Tragic Love
by An Anonymous Soul
Summary: 3 years after her encounter with the Labyrinth, Sarah Williams was announced crazy after telling her stepmother about what had happened in those 13 hours. Little does she know that the man, quite literally, of her dreams has been waiting for her.R&R! JS
1. Chapter 1

Sarah struggled against thhe restraints that were currently bounding her arms behind her back. She had seen straight jackets before, but she never thought she'd be in one. Ever since that God forsaken Labyrinth. Deep down she knew that something like this would have happened somewhere along the line, just not for this reason. She should have known that no one would have believed her when she told them that a character from her childhood book had truly come to life and abducted her baby brother. She shouldn't had insisted that it had all happened and that she could prove it. Especially since she couldn't. She wouldn't. If she did, it'd reveal the Underground to everyone. But she really had no choice. It was what got her hear in the first place. It had been three years since her travels in the Labyrinth. Three years of bearing an unbearable secret and trying in vain to forget what had happened. If she hadbeen able to live and forget, she might have been able to finish her last year of high school. But now that'd never happen. Finally admitting defeat after a half hour of tugging at her restraints. The girl sunk down, her hair splaying on the padded walls of her 'cell'. She oculdn't help but sigh and try again.

"I need you Hoggle." She stared into the small window so she could see her reflection.

Nothing.

Fitful tears racked her and she fell to the padded floor. She wished for it to swallow up. She didn't care where she went. Hell, she'd go to the Bog of Eternal Stench even. No, she thought to herself. It didn't happen. It was a dream. A far of memory. The people tell you it didn't happen so it didn't happen. It was fake. It had to be. For the first time, she really did feel crazy. All the things people had said were finally getting to her. After what seemed like an eternity of thought, she oculd no longer bear it. She fell asleep, her tear streaked face buried in the pad of the floor.

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Sarah was walking. She wasn't sure where. All she knew was that the path was long and winding...and looked so familiar. A flowing green dress that had no straps hung around her bare feet. She swung her head around, her long brown hair swinging around her. "W-Where am I?" she managed to stutter. She suddenly felt leather clad hands massaging her bare shoulders.

"You're here, love. With me." Sarah gasped, but wasn't suprised. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him in her subconcious.

"J-Jareth? What are you doing here? If they find you they'll surely-" He cut her off, pressing a soft gloved finger to her lips.

"I know, pet. They won't find us. I promise." He ran a hand down her hair, drawing her closer.

"But what if they do?"

"They won't. They may think they can, but only you can let them into your subconcious. This is to be our little secret." He purred into her ear. Sarah nodded, never wanting to tell them about this anyway. Whether it was a dream or not, she still wished that when she woke up he'd be there. She had never thought in a thousand years she'd have feelings for the Goblin King. She didn't even know if they were real or not, she never took the time to know what what he was really like behind the harsh mask he always wore. She edged herself closer to him, placing her lips gently on his, timid, shy, but at the same time begging for him to kiss her back. And he did with a vengance. She hated to break free, but knew she had to. She pushed with all of her might, finally breaking away.

"I think this is the part where I have to wake up," she breathed. Jareth but nodded. As she was nearing wake, he spoke.

"I may not be with you out therebut I will be in here." He pointed at his head. Sarah couldn't help but shudder.

As if real life was the dream, a comepletely sane girl in a padded mental ward room woke up in a cold sweat.


	2. Doubtful Prayers

alrighty. well, second chapter, second day...wow. anyhoo...two things...i'm new at all of this, and don't follow directions...or, understand them at least...so if this comes out all screwy... blame the n00b with the lap top...i'm trying to get as much done as possible, since i'm moving today or tomorrow...and not having an internet would suck, wouldn't it? anyway.ONTO THE FAN FICTION! -Anon.

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Sarah awoke panting and cold. She tried to bring her hands up to smooth her hair, but something restrained her arms. She then remembered all the events from the past week. They suddenly flooded her brain. Her cracking after all these years, spilling her guts to Karen, of all people, because she was the only one around. Karen saying she believed her, and then going behind her back and calling the police, who brought her to **this** place. Her own stepmother. How could she? How could Sarah had been so stupid in the first place? It no longer mattered. She was here and there was nothing she could do about it.

Sarah let out a half hearted sigh and stared out of her small window. It was nice outside, rather sunny. The day was probably full of happy people knowing that Saturday was just around the corner. That they were safe in their sanity and jobs and schools. They didn't know how lucky they were, in Sarah's opinion. She actually wished to be in school right now. High school was no picnic, but anything was better than being locked up in the funny farm for all eternity until she could prove her sanity. But deep down she knew there was no way that she could. She shifted in her confined space and suddenly heard a voice.

"Sarah? It's time for your medication." Sarah tried in vain to sit up. But she only fell back down, her hands couldn't prop her up. A small box on the bottom of the door opened and a tray slid threw. A small observing glass was opened on the door so the doctor could watch her take her pills with his laughing eyes. She felt like a caged animal on display, anyone could watch her, mock her, laugh at her until she could bear it no longer. A nurse entered the room, moving swiftly to the small cup of pills. "Here, take these." The nurse smiled. Sarah could see through the fakeness.

"Why? I'm not crazy..." Sarah stated quietly. She knew she wasn't crazy, but apparently that wasn't enough for them.

"Of course you aren't." A twinge of laughter in her voice as she spoke. "Doctor's orders though, you want to get out of here? You have to take your pills." Sarah nodded as if she understood, even though she did not.

Before the pills could be shoved down her throat, she piped up, "When can I get out of this straight jacket? I'd like to be able to move my arms," The nurse smiled sympathetically.

"That depends on how fast you get better. Now open." Sarah did as she was told, hating it the whole time. She secretly hoped that just keeping the pills in her mouth would be enough. Luckily, the nurse smiled as she jammed down the pills and left, satisfied that Sarah had them in her mouth. The moment the door banged shut, Sarah spit the pills out into a seam in the cushions of the padded cell.

She shook the hair out of her eyes and realizing that the observation window had closed, she spoke quietly, more to herself than to anyone else. "I wish the Goblin King would take me away," she took a ragged sigh, "Right now." She knew that the oh-so-mighty Goblin King wouldn't answer her. He never did. But still, she waited.


	3. Comforable Slumbers

Wow, I'm just spewing chapters out...I think that I'll probably do...hmm...3 or 4 tonight...and then...a lot tomorrow...considering the fact that it'll be the last day of my interweb access! what's a 13 year old to do if there is no internet? So I'm gonna try to get as much of this done as possible...And wow! I've only had this up for one day and already I have a review! I feel so loved...-teartear-...Feel free to ignore and/or shut me up on my ramblings...I swear I'm done now. -Anon

PS...ack. I didn't realize how short my chapters were until just now! I shall try and make them longer.

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Jareth stared in dismay at his beloved lying crumpled on the floor. If he had his way he would have been there with her right now. But he was restrained. if he were to go to here, there would be too many questions with the people of the Above ground. Where did he come from? Why was he with her? How did he get in in the first place? If there was a logical explanation, he would have found it by now. But none came to mind. He carelessly flung the crystal orb about in his hand, his eyes never straying from the pale girl's face. She looked radiant, even though she was in a straight jacket. But she would always look beautiful to him. The only way he had been able to see her without her monitors knowing was through her sub conscious. Not only had it been draining him of his magicks, but they had been draining her of strength. He could tell in her eyes. He stopped swaying the crystal back and fourth, gazing longingly in on what he couldn't have. He traced a leather clad finger down a side of it, as if hoping, praying that she would feel it.

_Aboveground_

Sarah had long since run out of hope that he would ever come for her. Why would he? She practically said that he would never have her those three years ago. But along with her mind, she had changed since then. She realized she hadn't known what he really was offering her; himself. She craved it now more than anything.

The girl rested her head against the padded wall again, closing her eyes against the small lines of sunlight that streaked through the impossibly small window. Almost instantly she fell asleep.

_Again she was wandering along in the Labyrinth, this time outside its doors, where she first met Hoggle. She stared blankly at several faeries that were perched on flowers. She got near one of them and it growled at her. "Why do they growl?" Sarah pondered aloud._

_"Perhaps they have nothing better to do?" an accented voice filled the air. Sarah spun around, her straight hair whipping wildly around her. A small smile graced her lips, remembering what he had said last time they met in her dreams._

_"Why are you always here?" her bare feet walked slowly towards him on the gravelly ground._

_"Where?" He questioned, a mocking grin on his face._

_"You know where. In my head. Why are you always in my head?"_

_Jareth's grin grew wider, as if he had been waiting for her to ask him this for a while. "Why don't you tell me?" He watched Sarah squirm in thought, biting her lower lip yet still managing to smile. They both new the answer. She didn't have to say it. He was only there because she wanted him there._

_"Then why don't you come when I call?" Sarah intended on discovering the truth about the situation._

_"Too many questions, love." Jareth stated calmly. Sarah fake pouted._

_"Just answer this one?" It seemed as if she were playing, but her eyes seemed to be pleading him. It killed him to say no to her._

_"No," he sighed, pretending that what he said before had been his answer. "There would be too may questions as to why I was with you or how I got there. That wouldn't be good for anyone, hmm?" A leather finger rested under Sarah's chin, forcing her eyes to stare up into his. _

_Her mouth formed a silent "Oh." He leaned into her. Even though Sarah was now 18, Jareth was still taller than her. He bent his head down slightly, his lips softly brushing against hers. He had been in many of her dreams, but never had he _kissed _her. She pulled away, slightly alarmed. His eyes were questioning, but she only looked into them briefly. Understanding and want rushed over Sarah. It was her dream, and part of her still didn't believe she had any control over what she did in it. So she leaned back into him, wrapping both of her arms around his back, comfortable in a warm, safe embrace. She took in his somewhat spicy scent, a hand tangled in his unruly blonde hair. Sarah stood there for a while, she had lost count of the seconds. Or had it been minutes? She didn't know. She didn't care. His warm embrace was enough for her. She felt as if she was going to melt into him, his heat radiating through her thin blue top._

_After an eternity of time, they each pulled back, still gazing into each other's eyes. Someone had to break the silence between them. It was no longer comfortable, but quite awkward. _

_"I think you've had enough sleep." he said quietly into her ear. Sarah shook her head in protest. Her slumber was the only place she wasn't captive, restrained. But she knew that people would begin to worry if she stayed in slumber for the rest of eternity. So like a fool, she woke up._

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Long enough for ya? I know it still could have been longer...but as for dream sequences, I'm having severe writer's block...I think I shall try to bang out a few more chapters. Because I love my continuous reader of 1 and I want to keep them continuousxD enjoy!


	4. Sadness in Realizations

For my lovely reviewers: thank you so much! Your input means lots to me! Don't worry. Many chapters probably coming today. No school and last day with internet...so sad...anyway, here comes the next chapter: ) hope ya like-Anon, The n00b with the Lappy

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Sarah's eyes fluttered open to a day exactly like the last. Boring and white. She longed to wake up and find what she really wanted, her warm bed underneath her instead of the padding of her cell. She stared up at the ceiling, it's monotonous appearance putting her into a trance. Everything seemed the same, not just in her cell, but every day. The routine was so predictable, like old rerun TV shows. Every day: she'd wake up, wishing that the life she was living was the dream. A nurse would come in, they'd exchange the same conversation. "When can I leave?"

"Whenever the Doctor sees fit."

"When can I get out of the straight jacket?"

"When you show improvement."

Sarah would sigh, supposedly take her pills, and spit them back out as soon as the nurse left.

She was aware of constant eyes on her. Once she even began trying to pry the padding from the walls in the corners, looking for cameras or listening devices. She never found any, but she was so sure they were there. So to take precautions, sarah decided something: She would have to give up wishing aloud. Her hopes were all she had left, and now even those would be deprived. Now there were only dreams, and those weren't even real! or so she thought...

_Underground_

Jareth had taken to dwelling in Sarah's dreams. Where they were and what she said she was in complete control of. He knew she thought that she was controlling her dreams. But he knew otherwise. He was in them on his own free will. It was the only time they could talk. Or do anything else for that matter. The two of them seemed to be the only ones who _didn't _think Sarah was crazy. He wished more than anything to go to her, he had since the minute she had defeated him. But he knew all to well that she would most likely shun him a second time in real life. He wanted to make the awful woman who put her in an Institution see that his love truly wasn't crazy. If only he knew how to...

He quickly unseated himself and walked the long corridor that led to the library. It was a good place to think, and boy did he need to think.

Once he arrived, the lovesick Goblin King searched the long rows of dusty leather-bound books for any title that might help. The library shelves were so long that he needed to rest after searching an entire wall filled with books. "This is hopeless!" he cried out to nobody. There had to be a recollection of someone in the long line of Goblin Kings forcing someone to see things from another's memory. He knew that there was one or two, he just didn't know where to find them.

Jareth paced, his frustration rapidly growing. He gave up that night, retiring to his bedchambers.

He conjured a crystal, a small reflection of Sarah shone back at him. He fell asleep then, his dreams most likely bound to collide with hers yet again, but he knew neither of them minded it.

_Aboveground_

"Mom!" whined an impatient Toby. "Mom, when are we gonna see her?" It had been over a month since little Toby Williams, now four years old, had seen his big sister.

Karen played dumb. "See who?" Toby was beginning to resent his mother, for the sheer reason that she had never liked Sarah much to begin with. Just the fact that she had been the product of her Richard's first marriage was enough of a thought to send her into a rage.

"You know who! When are we going to see her?" Toby prodded. He missed Sarah so much.

"I don't know when, Toby. But I bet she's much happier where she is. She can think whatever she wants to think there without having to worry what other people would say." Toby knew that Sarah had ned never been worried about what other people said. And he doubted she liked being restrained and confined in one little room for a month.

"If you say so..." Toby sighed, a twinge of sarcasm in his voice.

"We'll see her soon, I promise." Karen hadn't ever intended on bringing Toby to see Sarah. She was hoping he'd forget about her. But that didn't seem to be the case.

Toby's eyes lit up. "Really?" Karen nodded slowly. A happy smile stretched accross his face and he skipped off, yet down he knew that 'soon' was a lot farther away than she was letting on.

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There. the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed! I wanted to put a little Toby in the story because, well...he's Toby. A story without Toby would be...well...not a story. I want to bang out one more chapter, but I have homeworkXXGragh!


	5. Reality for Lies

SCORE! i finished my homework! so, with this might be the last update for a while...sorry all of my reviewers! I love you terribly but moving comes with its price. I'll try to mooch off of someone elses compy and update soon though! -Anon, the Apologetic Girl

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Sarah had long since lost track of when each day ended and night began. She looked forward to the dark. She longed for it with a passion she didn't know existed. All she knew was that she missed her family, her friends. Hell, she even missed Jareth more than she thought was ever capable. When she was younger, she had despised him. Yet now, now she wished that she hadn't turned his offer down. Why did she have to be so thick headed then? She wouldn't have been in this awful mess. But there was no changing the past.

The days went in and out and still no one ever came for her. She decided to play along with the Doctor's games, acting unlike she had been before. Boring. Sane. Well, their definition of sane. A knock on the door shattered the silence. Since when had anyone ever knocked?

"Come in...?" She said quietly, but loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear. The door squeaked open and a male voice could be heard.

"Sarah Williams?" Who else would be in here besides her, anyway?

Instead of giving her usual snappy comeback she mearly murmured, "Yes?"

The man stepped inside further. She could now see his white lab coat and white scrubs. He blended in so well that if it wasn't for the medical mask he was wearing he would have looked like the wall! The doctor pulled off the mask and deposited it in a wast basket just outside the door of her prison,along with the scrub's hat and rubber gloves he was wearing. He extended a hand to shake but quickly withdrew it, remembering she had no hand to give.

"Right." he coughed into his elbow. "I'm Dr. Smith. I suppose you're wondering why I'm here..." Sarah quickly nodded her head. Was he giving ehr good news or bad news. News that would really make her crazy or something good, like her being able to leave. "We've noticed a vast improvement in your behavior. You have been acting more like a responsible teen then someone who makes up stories and actually believes they happened." the doctor smiled at his statement, finding it funny. Sarah cringed. "So, just to be sure, would you like to tell me what happened in this 'Labyrinth' you usually talk so fondly of?"

Sarah's mind was racing. It wasn't some 'story', it had actually happened! Or had it? Her mind grew fuzzy in thought. If she wanted to get out of her, she would have to make up a story about making up what truly happened. But as Jareth had told her, they couldn't hack into her subconcious. So she did what anyone would do in the given situation: she lied. "What? Oh, that! It never happened. How could something that crazy happen? I mean, how the hell could goblins actually exist? And talking worms! Total BS. All of it, really." Sarah internally applauded herself for the heavy lying she just did. She had layed it on rather thick, but anything that thick would get her out for sure, wouldn't it?

The doctor nodded in approval and motioned for her to come nearer. He pulled out a small key from one of the many lab coat pockets. When she was close enough, he inserted it in the straight jacket lock and with a click, one of her arms was free. Sarah could have squealed in delight but bit her tongue ad the other lock was undone. The straight jacket fell to the floor around her ankles with a thud. She was now only dressed in a hospital gown.

Sarah cleared her throat nervously. "So...does that mean I get to...leave?" she questioned quickly.

The doctor took a ragged breath. "No. you will share a room with one other patient who is now clinging to sanity. With any luck you will be able to leave in a few months." Sarah looked down at her shoes but nodded.

"When do I get to move?"

"As soon as your mother arrives with your clothes. I called her not to long ago." Sarah's face tightened when he said Karen was her mother. _She...is NOT my mother!_ she thought to herself, but nodded all the same.

Far away in a distant world, a certain Goblin King almost wept when hes own love admitted that she didn't believe in what had happened.


	6. Moving

Sorry that took so long… it took forever and a half to get to a place with interweb…Gah. Anywhooo, thank you so much for the reviews! I love the positive feedback. Gonna try to update now. If it's short, I'm really sorry. My mom's planning on booting me off the compy anytime now.-Anon

Sarah walked down the hallway, Dr. Smith leading her the entire way. It seemed as if the events of the last hours were just a dream. She'd wake up and still be in the terribly confining space she was in before. She was suddenly ripped from her thoughts.

"You look terrible! What have you been doing? Starving yourself! I told you that you should eat more!"

"Hello, Karen." Sarah sighed quietly. She was not in the mood to listen to her stepmother's incessant ramblings. "Do you have my things?"

"What about 'Hello, Karen. How nice to see you. How are you doing?'" she scolded Sarah for her lack of manners. Sarah rolled her eyes.

A small hand grabbed at Karen's hand. "Mom, where are we?" Toby's eyes widened as soon as they fell on his step sister. "Sarah!" He flung himself at her. She could barely keep her balance.

"Hi, Tobe," A small smile spread across her features. "How are you?" It had been so long since she had seen any of her family, let alone Toby.

"I'm okay. I haven't seen you in forever!" He pointed out, a twinge of sadness reflecting in his voice, Sarah pitied him and scooped the small boy into her arms.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Why? It was Mom's fault." Toby stated. The tone was supposed to be that of a child joking with their older sister, but Karen didn't take it that way.

"I didn't want him to be exposed to those who…aren't right in the head…" Karen said, lowering her voice. Sarah glared daggers at the 'wicked stepmother', but said nothing.

Karen suddenly thrust a plastic garbage bag at Sarah, avoiding eye contact. "Here are your things. It was nice seeing you again." Sarah grabbed the bag and stooped down to eye level with Toby.

"I'll see you in a bit, kay Tobe?" She ruffled his hair.

"Okay, Sarah." He clung to her shoulders, keeping her in a tight embrace. "I'll hold Mom to it." He whispered in her ear. Sarah smiled.

"You do that." Sarah got back up from the floor and began pulling the bag towards the waiting doctor.

Karen rested her hands on her hips. "I don't get a goodbye?" She scoffed. Sarah waved over her shoulder and kept pulling.

"Have a nice family reunion?" Dr. Smith asked. Sarah ignored her comment and continued walking. "Okay then." The doctor said, acting like he didn't care. "Well, here we are. Your new room." Sarah sighed in relief.

She entered a small room with two beds. The room was sea foam green, a colour Sarah detested. "Am I sharing the room?" She looked over at Smith. He nodded. "Oh."

A loud noise startled them both. A girl came out of what looked to be a closet. She was bopping around, headphones blaring around her ears. Her clothing was neon coloured. Orange tank top frayed and bits of it were replaced with hi-lighter green fishnet. The doctor talked loudly. "Alicia!" he cleared his throat. "Alicia!" The girls eyes met with the doctors and then with Sarah's. They were bloodshot.

The girl cocked her head to the side, staring at Sarah. "She new?" She stated more than questioned.

"And sharing a room with you. I'll let you two et to know each other." And with that said, he left.

"Oh. Okay." She pressed the stop button on her CD player and tore off her headphones. She stuck out a hand and forced a smile. "Hi. I'm Alicia. And you are…?"

"Sarah." Sarah finished. She dropped her bag at her feet and wandered to the window. Deep down she wished it was the Labyrinth she saw staring back at her, instead of the busy New York streets.

"Oh. Cool." Nothing else was said for a while. Sarah jumped when she heard Alicia's voice behind her.

"Ya look like ya lost something. Did ya?" Sarah sighed and looked at her pale hands.

"I think I did." She said under her breath. She wished more than anything to be where she belonged. At home. Or the Labyrinth. Hell, she even wished to be in school. Anything was better than this. "I'm going to bed." Sarah finally spoke again. She didn't care that it was hardly 7 o'clock. And apparently neither did Alicia. She shrugged and nodded.

Sarah rested her head against the strong shoulder that was underneath it. They seemed to be sitting in the throne that Jareth had in the Throne Room. "Is it true? What you said?" A heavily accented voice breathed in her ear.

"_Never. If you knew how it felt in there. God I would have done anything to get out." The girl sighed._

"_Really. How terrible."_

"_It was. I felt so alone. So isolated. And the visit from Karen didn't help any…"Sarah wished more than anything that Jareth would have been there with her during the dreadful visit. _

"_You weren't alone, Sarah. You're never alone." Sarah looked at him curiously._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I always watch over you. Whether you realize it or not." The girl resting in his arms smiled lazily up at him. She rested one of her hands on his cheek, staring into his eyes. _

" _I wish you'd come for me. I'm tired of people thinking I'm crazy." Sarah yawned out. Her sleeps were comfortable, but never restful._

"_You're tired in general. Perhaps I should leave?" Sarah's eyes widened._

"_No! Don't go. Please…" She practically begged, her voice barely a whisper. "Never go…" She buried her face in his poet's shirt. Jareth wrapped his arms protectively around her form. He stroked her hair, resting his chin on the top of her head._

"_I won't, Love. Don't worry." His voice trailed off as he felt the girl's breath come more rhythmic. She was asleep. "Good night, Love." He whispered into her ear. The girl responded by curling up in his lap. "Good night."_

Again with the me not knowing when I'm gonna get on to the compy againXx Grr. Hopeflly soon, though. I look forward to updating again though! Or…at least getting to a compy with worrking internet again. Same diff. Until then, Anon signing off.


	7. Comfort Gone

Yay! Just got the new Coheed and Cambria CD. One of the songs fit so well with what was happening I felt I had to use it. Tell me if it works or not when you read the chapter. Input is nice. Thanks in advance! Speaking of which, common tags apply. I haven't been saying any of them because I thought it was obvious by now. I own nothing. Not Jareth. Not Sarah. Certainly not Claudio or his big ass hair or the rest of Coheed and Cambria, no matter how much I wish it.-Anon

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Sarah shifted in her sleep. She wished that her dreams could be this sweet forever, but like all dreams, these recurring ones would be gone soon, no matter how much she wished they wouldn't. A happy smile spread across her lips. It was probably the most restful sleep she ever had. Sleeping within a dream, interesting concept. She suddenly got the feeling that she was being watched. The girl in the bed closed her eyes tighter, but the feeling only increased. She finally couldn't take it anymore. She thrust open her eyes, wishing more than anything that she hadn't.

"Such a peaceful sleeper, eh?" A voice stated more than questioned. Sarah shook her head, having no idea what it is they were talking about. "Sorry to wake you, Sarah. But it's time to take your medication." The happy voice of Dr. Smith sickened her. She could only nod as a small cup of flouresent coloured pills were thrusted at her. She downed them all and followed up with some water. Her expression returned to glum and she fell back onto the pillow. The outside world must have hated her. Each time she tried to interact, it came back to bite her in the ass. Try to tell a decent story, get sent to a mental ward. Plead that you're sane, get stuck in some disgusting old hospital wing with an overly peppy crazy person. None of this was worth it to her.

The doctor quietly snuck away from Sarah's bed-side and began conversing with Alicia in the back of the room. "How long has she been sleeping?" He asked her in a hushed voice.

"I dunno. A day or two, I think." Alicia looked down at her combat booted feet. Her new roommate hadn't been much fun. Sarah had slept since the moment she had gotten here.

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I'm going to ride this plane...out of your life again.

I wish that I could stay, but you'd argue.

More than this I wish you could've seen my face

In the back seat staring out of the window

_"You know they're talking about us." Jareth whispered to the form curled in his lap._

_"I know." Sarah replied dreamily._

_"You shouldn't be sleeping so much, love. It isn't helping your case at all." _

I'll do anything for you.

Kill anyone for you.

_Sarah nodded in understanding. "I know...but my dreams are the only place where I can just relax...There are times I wish that these weren't just dreams," Sarah amused herself with her own thoughts._

So leave yourself intact

Cause I will be coming back

_Jareth wished to tell her the truth, that it was all real. That her dreams let her enter the Underground. But he dared not mention it. He knew that she wouldn't want to be with him if she discovered she could be roaming the halls and seeing her other friends instead._

_"They're all worried about you. Perhaps you should go for now." _

In a phrase to cut these lips

I love you.

_Sarah moaned her protest. "I don't want to go back though! Here is safe and comfortable. There is..." She screwed up her face and shivered slightly. "Not...good..." Sarah snuggled closer into Jareth's white poet's shirt. _

The morning will come

In the press of every kiss

With your head upon my chest

Where I will annoy you

With every waking breath until you decide

_"I know." Jareth stroked her hair. "But the longer you're here the more they worry. I think I'll go for a while." Sarah's head snapped erect at his words. _

To wake up

_"What?" she managed to sputter out. "You can't go! God, Jareth you're the only thing keeping me sane at this point! The medication isn't doing squat for that. Don't go..." She started crying. She couldn't help it. She knew his words were final. _

I earned through hope and faith

The curves around your face

That I'm the one you'll hold

Forever

_"I won't be gone for too long, pet I promise. But it's the only way." He shifted, placing Sarah on the now empty throne and began to walk away, his heavy booted footsteps echoing down a long stone hallway._

If morning never comes

For either one of us

Then this I pray to you

Wherever

_"But...what'll I do?" Sarah asked almost inaudibly._

The morning will come

In the press of every kiss

With your head upon my chest

Where I will annoy you

With every waking breath until you decide

_"Interact with the real people." His last words to her echoed. Sarah shivered and the tears she had been holding back spilled over the bottom lids of her shining emerald eyes._

To wake up.


	8. Come Clean

LL-you question will be answered in this chapter. You solved one of my major problems as to when to insert Goblins and such. Congrats and thank you:)-Anon

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Sarah hiccuped in her sleep, trying not to let the tears from her dream flow into reality. Dr. Smith's head whipped around, taking the still talking Alicia by surprise. She too then heard the pitying sobs.

The doctor went to Sarah's bedside, shaking one of her shoulders gently to wake her. "Sarah? Sarah. Wake up. It was just a dream." Sarah shook her head, refusing to wake up and refusing to believe the soothing words the doctor spoke. It couldn't have ben just a dream. It seemed so...so real. She could almost feel the velvet of the throne that would have been cusioning her head.

Sarah finally opened her eyes, the tears blinding her. She looked up to see two worried faces staring intently down at her. She gave one small, pleading look at the doctor and he seemed to get it. "Perhaps I should go now." He stated, and without another word to either of them, he left.

"What was up with that?" Alicia asked, slightly confused.

"It was so real. It wasn't a dream," Sarah stuttered out. "I don't care what the fucking doctors say. It was reality."

"Maybe I should call someone..." Alicia said, worried for her roomate's sanity. Sarah grabbed her arm.

"No! One person's left me already. I don't need anyone else to go. Sit...stay?" Sarah's grasp on what was happening was slipping. She wanted to tell Alicia what had happened to her in the Labyrinth, what's a few misguided words between two crazy people, anyway? "Why are you here? You seem pretty damn sane to me."

Alicia sighed. "I seem pretty damn sane to myself, too. But no one else seems to think so. The people on the walls just won't...stop...telling me! 'You're crazy. A real nut case! Pull the blade and the pain'll stop!' they say. I don't listen to 'um though. I've been ignoring them. But the pills the doctors give me help a bit, too. I checked myself into this hell-hole a few years ago. What other choice did I have? I didn't think that it would take this long to make the people fade. But oh well. I pretend that everything's all fine and dandy and the doctors'll think that I'm fine! The can't hack into my brain, right?" Sarah smiled in remembrance of Jareth's words. Jareth. She stared down at the sheets. "so, what's your deal?"

Sarah stared at her hands. She should have known that something like this would come up. She fingered the shoddy hemmings on the sheet that came up to her waist. "Something hapened to me," she took in a steady breath. "three years ago. And I didn't want to tell anyone. I thought something like _this_ would happen. But three years of pressure and strain add up. So after holding it in for those long years, I told my step-mother. She seemed pretty understanding about it. And then she said she remembered she needed to call one of her friends. The very next day, some demented white van with men in white coats comes to our house. I was curious so I went downstairs. I saw Karen answer the door and point at me. I didn't even know what was going on! All of these people came swarming at me, grabbing my arms and my legs. I saw my little brother clinging to Karen's leg. That traitor. That evil vile wench of a woman! She took my trust and just...smashed it!" Sarah took in a big, shaky breath. It felt good to tell the story to someone who was even more crazy than she was. "Anyway, I was so scared I even cried out to Jar-I mean, an old friend, well, not really friend...but I should have known he wouldn't come...He never came. Why would he? After the way I treated him...I thought he had forgotten about me, it had been three years, after all. But I was wrong. No sooner than when I fell asleep in that awful padded cell, he came. Just like that. Hell, I don't even know if any of it was real or not." Her voice took on a dreamy tone. "It seemed like it had to be though. And then he left. He said that he'd never leave me. He offered me my dreams and I turned him down. And _still _he stuck by me." Sarah drifted out of the conversation, her thoughts wandering to Jareth. She stared into Alicia's face, seeing the look of confusion spreading over her.

"Wait...so, this guy, had something to do with this thing that happened to you three years ago. And then you told...your stepmom? about it, and she called the funny farm on you. Then guy started visiting you in your dreams but he left you last night?"

"How did you know that part? I didn't say anything about that!"

"You didn't have to. I infered." A triumphant smiloe spread across Alicia's face. Sarah looked at her strangely.

"I think I might try going to sleep again. You never know who'll pop up." Sarah gave a last smile before her head hit the pillow again.

"Real dreams and crazy stepmoms. Hmm. Who woulda thought?" Alicia questioned aloud.

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Sarah's dreams were scattered. First she was on a boat. it was being tossed and turned in a small bathtub ocean. Sarah looked up and blood red tears pelted against her cheeks. They seemed to be coming to equally red puffy clouds. "Where is anyone?" she cried, holding on to the mast with all of her might for fear of being thrown into the now bloody water.

The scene changed with a clap of lightning. This time her dream seemed more...real. Sort of. _She was in the wreckage of the Ecsher room. She stood on the ledge where she had first jumped, and was wearing the same clothes that she had been wearing then. She was amazed they fit her. "Hello?" she called. Only the echo of her own voice spoke back. "Hello?" She called again._

_"Sarah?" a small voice squeaked. It sounded so familiar. She just couldn't put her finger one where she had heard it before. _

_"Who's there?" She questioned, swinging her head arouind. _

_"Sarah!" she felt something hugging her leg. She looked down, to see a waist sized dwarf staring up at her with adoring eyes. _

_"Hoggle!" She scooped him into her arms. "What're you doing here?"_

_"Well, erm..the king was getting worried about yous. He was afraid that you'd stay asleep..."_

_"I know. Tell him thanks, but I need no babysitter. Remember what happened to Toby the last time he had a babysitter?" She smirked. Hoggle nodded, a small smile reflected in his eyes. _

_"So, how is Sir Didymus? Did he go back to the Bog? And Ludo, is he still calling the rocks? How come I haven't seen any of you? Or any creature that wasn't human for that matter?" Sarah was so full of questions, she didn't know where to begin._

_Hoggle cleared his throat. "Well," he began, "Sir Didymus 'ent back to the Bog after the party we 'ad. We's been keeping in touch a little, but is mostly 'his dear brother' that he's been talking with. Ludo's still friends with the rocks, and his speech ain't improved a bit! Still can't understand what the bloody oaf's sayin'. An' as for we's goblins, we's been keepin outa the way of the King. Besides when yur around, he ain't in the greatest of moods. And we's afraid if we show up while you's here, he'd send us to the Bog for interuptin'..."_

_"Oh. That's good. Well, not that last bit. I think that Goblin King of yours should try to watch his temper more. Tell him that for me, would you? I don't want any of you getting stuck in the Bog." Hoggle nodded. "Oh, and just once, could you do me a favor?"_

_"Anything, Sarah." Sarah bent down and began whispering in Hoggle's ear. "Oh, I's don't think the King'll like it that much, but if yur sure she'd keep the secret safe..."_

_Sarah cut him off. "She will, I promise. There's something different about her. I don't know what it is. But I can just tell. She would." Hoggle nodded in agreement. Sarah kissed his forehead._

_Hoggle squirmed out of her grasp almost imediatly. Remembrance of what had happened last time when she had kissed him flashed through her brain._

_"Whoops," She said quietly, glad nothing had happened this time. "Thank you. See you later then." Hoggle winked at her and she dissapeared, back into the real world._


	9. The Real Truth

Hoggle roamed the old hallways, peering into each doorway as he went looking for his king. In the library, he finally found him.

"K-King Jareth?" Hoggle stuttered, worried about what Jareth would do to him if he was in a bad mood. The King looked up from the dusty book he was reading.

"Yes, Hogbrain, what is it?" Jareth asked, and exasperated tone in his voice.

"Sarah was just here..." Jareth's head snapped to stare directly into Hoggle's glassy eyes. "She was...er...wondrin' if I could possibly...erm...visit her.." Hoggle stalled, his nervousness aparent.

"Really. And why is that?"

"Well, er- she wanted to show 'er friend that she wasn't crazy. She said that she can tell 'er roomy is different. Plus...I think the Lady Sarah's a lil lonely..." Hoggle's voice trailed off.

Jareth only continued to stare at the dwarf. "Fine..." He said after a long while of waiting. Hoggle's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yes, Hoghead. Now go before I change my mind." At that moment he wished he was the dwarf. He wanted more than anything to go to her, but knew he couldn't. Not in real life. At least not yet. He looked back into the pages of the book on his lap, telling Hoggle with his actions to go away.

Jareth began to read aloud once Hoggle made his departure. "Transporting memories to anothers mind is a rather long and dificult procedure..." He sighed and continued reading in his head.

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Sarah stared blankly out the window. It had been days since she had last talked to anyone from the Underground. Her dreams no longer revolved around the place, but part of her wished they would. She sighed and stared at her hands, wondering if until now was enough time to have waited for Hoggle's reply. "Alicia?" She called. As if out of no where, Alicia was suddenly at Sarah's side.

"Huh?"

"I want to show you something." Sarah moved from the window and stared into the small mirror she had walked over to. Alicia followed her with a look of utter confusion spread across her face. "Remember when I told you why I was here?" Alicia nodded. "Well, I have proof." Without an explanation, she spoke directly into the mirror. "I need you, Hoggle." She stared into the mirror, almost desparatly. Instantly, he appeared.

"Sarah!" She spun around. A warm face smiled back at her.

"Hoggle!" She swooped him up in her arms, comepletely forgettign about her roomate, who cleared her throat. "Oh, right. Hoggle, she's the one I was telling you about. Alicia, this is Hoggle. He was my friend through the Labyrinth. Still is my friend, really." Alicia stared dumbfounded at the dwarf.

"Holy...fuck...That thing looks weird! What is it?" Alicia got closer to Hoggle, staring at him. She spoke to Sarah now. "Do you know how much money you oculd make if you sold that thing?"

"I'm not an 'it'. I's Hoggle." He defended himself. "And you's can't do that!"

"He's right. Alicia, no one can now about him. Or where he came from. It might buy me a ticket out of this place, but too many people would know about it then. Who knows what would happen." Sarah shuddered. "Promise you won't tell anyone?" Alicia looked as if she was pondering the question, but she nodded. With that being said, Sarah turned back to Hoggle. "Oh my God! I'm so glad you came! Was he okay with it?" it was obivous who the 'he' was.

Hoggle nodded. "It didn't seem like he was happy 'bout lettin' me come though. He seemed kinda...sad about it..." Sarah looked down at her feet. She didn't want Jareth to feel sad about anything involving her.

"Why?"

"I dunno. Didn't wanna ask him. I wouldn't wanna get sent to the Bog." It was Sarah's turn to nod.

"Right."

"Wait-So...this...guy, is he the same one you were talking about before?" Alicia finally chimed in.

"Yes he was, or...is." A tone of sadness was reflected in her voice. "Hey Hoggle?"

"Yes'm?"

"Just tell him I miss him...or something like that." Hoggle nodded and okay and dissapeared.

"I'm missing something..."Alicia stated, even more confused than she was before.

"Not really. It's just kinda confusing since you weren't there..."

"Oh."

For once, Sarah was anything but tired. She paced the room a bit, finally settling on the bed. "My God, this room is boring! How can you stand being in it for so long?"

"There's other stuff to do in this place. Maybe tomorrow we can go do something in the almost outside world?" Alicia replied.

"Sounds good to me." Sarah smiled. It was nice to sort of have a friend. She hadn't had many at her school, and the few she had were so shallow she doubted they'd still be her friends now. But it didn't matter. Alicia seemed pretty nice, even though she was a few cents short of a dollar. "Hey Alicia?"

"Yeah?"

"How long do ya think I'm going to be here?"

"It really depends. As much as I hate to say it, the doctors are right. The more sane you act, the sooner you get to get out of here."

"Oh." With that being said, A sudden wave of sleep hit her. "I'm going to sleep." Sarah glanced at the clock. It read 9 pm. A fine time to go to sleep.


	10. Seemingly Sudden Death

_The familiarity of the Labyrinth surrounded her. She glanced around quickly relieved to see that she was back within the Underground. She stared up into the crystal sky, stars glittered beyond the heavens, winking every time she moved. She felt the un-announced presence that he was finally back, but she waited for him to make himself known._

_"Hello, Sarah." She restrained herself from running to him. She turned and smiled._

_"Hello." He thought she seemed different than last time he'd seen her, less desperate for the Underground, for him. She walked steadily closer to him. "Why are you here?" He ignored her question._

_"You seem a little better." Sarah cocked her head to the side, her eyes never straying from his features._

_"Was I sick?"A joking mannerism resided in her voice._

_"Seemingly. You seem less...dependent on this place. Sarah felt as if she had been struck in the face._

_"Are you kidding me! I've missed this place so much! I haven't had any wish to come here since you left. But now you're back...right?" Jareth shook his head._

_"No. I was only checking up on you, love. I swear you'll see me when the time presents itself. I promise." Sarah stared down at her bare feet. _

_"Oh...okay." A twinge of dissapointment in her voice. Jareth took note of it and walked up to her. He rested his leather gloved fingers under her chin, forcing her to look up into his dizzying mismatched eyes. _

_"You have no idea how much it kills me." He said quietly to her, "not to be able to be with you." His eyes left her face, slightly ashamed of what he had just admitted aloud. It was Sarah's turn to force his eyes upward. But not with her hands. She brought her face downward, closer to his. After a forever of just looking at his face, his eyes, his lips, their lips met. It certainly did catch his attention, soon forgetting about what he had said just moments before. He took her bottom lip into his mouth, though he knew this couldn't be. Not now. Not when, to her, this wasn't reality. Not yet. As much as it pained him, he pulled back from her._

_"Don't get too attached, love," He breathed. Sarah only looked at him confusedly, "This isn't real yet. It would be best for...both of us...to dwell in reality." Sarah nodded, yet felt as if she'd never understand. After saying what he had to say, Jareth turned and left, feeling ever so ashamed of himself. _

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Jareth felt terrible as he left his love standing confused and alone. But for now that was the way it had to be. He wouldn't come to her in the real world until he knew what he was going to do and how to do it. Part of him was still slightly worried about her; he wondered if she'd be this warm to him when they met in reality. He picked up the heavy book he had been reading the day before and opened it to where he left off. Sighing, he continued reading.

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Sarah awoke to a blinding headache and even more blinding sunlight. "Oh my God...I feel like I got hit in the head with a train...Hey, Alicia?"

No answer.

"Alicia?"

Still nothing. Cautiously getting out of bed, she walked over to Alicia's bed and pulled back the sheets. No one was there. Frantically Sarah called Alicia's name again. And again no one said anything back.

Sarah began searching. She looked all around the room, but avoided the one room she dreaded to go into in this case, the bathroom. Alicia didn't seem to be anywhere else though, so Sarah had no choice.

She cautiously pushed the door to the bathroom, dreading what she might see. She had to stifle a gasp. Lying cold on the floor, was an almost dead Alicia, empty bottle of pills in her hand.

"They..They wouldn't stop talking this time..." Alicia tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a gag. Her head rolled to the side, along with her eyes, which rolled up in her head, only the whites now visible.

Sarah's eyes widened in shock. She prayed that Alicia wasn't dead. Perhaps it was the terror that was running through her veins, or just the utter shock of it all, but she couldn't move for a moment, temporarily paralyzed. "A-Alicia?" Sarah knelt down so she would have been eye level with the practically dead girl lying on the cold floor. Common sense finally kicked in. Sarah rushed to the phone that hung by the door and hit the pound and zero keys. A cool female voice came on the other end.

"Hello-" Sarah cut her off.

"Nurse! Someone's almost dead in room 218. She had a bottle of pills in her hand. It seemed to be empty. God, send a doctor, please!"

"The doctor will be up very shortly." Sarah wondered how the nurse could be so calm when there was a woman dying up here.

"Thank you." As soon as the receiver clicked, Sarah ran back to the very shallow breathing body. The face expression on her remained the same. Alicia seemed colder and her eyes, if possible, even more glazed over. She tried to sputter something out. "What is it?" Sarah questioned her.

"Everything's turning black..." Alicia's breathing quickened for a moment and then stopped altogether. No sooner did that happen than the doctor bust in, carrying a medium sized wheeled machine behind him.

"What happened?" It was the only time Sarah had ever been relieved to see Dr. Smith.

"I...I dunno. She said something about them still talking and then she passed out...and now...now she's not breathing!" Sarah didn't even realize she had bust out in sputtering tears. "What's that?" She asked, now fully aware of the odd looking machine.

"You'll find out if there's not a pulse." Sarah stood back and watched Dr. Smith at work. To her surprise, the doctor breathed a sigh of relief. "I got a pulse." Sarah would have squealed in happiness, but all she could do was continue crying. "We're going to have to keep her in another ward for a few weeks. She'll be back in this room soon enough. And you can visit her whenever you please." Sarah nodded and watched as a nurse came into the rom with a wheel chair and wheeled a barely conscious Alicia out of the room.

Far off in the Underground, Jareth watched the entire scene play out, wishing more than anything t hat he could be there to comfort his love.


	11. Miracles

Sarah walked down the hallways of the mental ward. She had no idea where the ward that Alicia was in, so she had decided to just wander the hospital for something to do. She knew her room had been boring, but she hadn't expected the rest of the hospital to be the same way. It had only been a day or so since the incident had happened, and already she longed for the company of another human.

She wandered down the white hallways until she came across a ward which entrance read, 'Drug Overdose and Detoxation Ward'. It seemed as if this would be where she'd find Alicia. She wandered down the halls, peering into open doorways, hoping for some sign of her. A sudden voice caught her by surprise.

"Hey." She spun around, meeting a fierce gaze of two mismatched eyes. She gasped, thinking it might be him, but soon realized it couldn't be. The man in front of her had dark hair and no accent.

"Um...hi." She said quietly.

" Who're you?" The man's speech was slurred.

"Um...I'm Sarah. Hi...Who are you?"

"Daniel." He stated gruffly. "Where're you goin'?"

"I was looking for someone. You wouldn't happen to know an Alicia Halton?" Sarah asked, feeling more than awkward.

Daniel shook his head. "I wouldn't know 'er. I just got here last night. Man...who woulda thought so many Long Island Ice Teas would make you throw yerself at traffic? Got a broken leg and everything!" It was then Sarah noticed he was sitting in a wheelchair, cast leg propped up by a lone piece of metal.

"Oh...sorry." Daniel shrugged and wheeled himself away. After that odd meeting, Sarah continued walking through the empty hallways. She noticed a small door opening and two doctors stepping out of it. One of them was Dr. Smith. The other Sarah did not recognize.

"How long do you think she'll be out of it?"

"I don't know. She hit her head on that sink pretty hard, by the looks of it. I don't know if she'll remember anything for a while."

"It'll be harder to diagnose her if she doesn't remember why she's here."

"It might be for the better though."

"W-What's wrong with her?" Sarah stepped out of the shadows and took the two doctors by surprise. "What's wrong with Alicia?" Dr. Smith looked at the woman he was standing next to, then returning Sarah's confused gaze.

Dr. Smith sighed and looked back at the woman standing next to him. "Sarah," he began, " This is Dr. Cowen. She's one of the main doctors in this ward. We have just met with Alicia. She was sleeping peacefully..." His voice trailed off.

"What does that mean?" Sarah asked, still very confused.

Dr. Cowen spoke up. "It means at this rate, we're not sure that she'll have her memory for some time. We're afraid that she might never get it back." Sarah nodded.

"So...she has amnesia or something?"

"Yes. Something like that. But considering her overdosage of prescription medication as well as the impact of her head hitting the edge of the sink, we're not sure if she'll come out of it." Sarah's eyes widened.

"C-Can I go see her?" She stuttered. The pair of doctors nodded and Sarah ran into the darkened room.

"Alicia?" Again the silence answered her. It was deathly quiet, as if she had died and was lying cold in the hospital bed. Sarah ignored the silence and went to her bedside. Sarah held onto Alicia's right hand, speaking to her even though she doubted she'd her. "Alicia. You're going to get through this. You've got to. You're my only true friend. If you don't come back to Earth I don't know what I'll do!" Sarah tried hard not to cry. She failed though, and soon tears splattered on the two girls' pale hands. Without so much as another word, Sarah left the room and went back to her own ward.

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Once back in her room, Sarah immediaty flung herself onto her bed, wanting nothing to do with the outside world. She sighed, staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes fluttered closed, barely realizing she had fallen asleep.

_Sarah walked blindly through the Labyrinth. She felt as though she had done it a thousand times; only this time was different. This time she let her anger guide her. She quickly ran out of patience and screamed. She wasn't in pain, wasn't sad. She only felt she needed to let out all the anger and exasperation that had been building up inside her for the past few months. After several seconds of letting her emotions run rampant, she sighed, leaning against a glitter-covored wall of the Labyrinth. "You know, you might upset some of the creatures here by doing that." She spun around, staring wild eyed at the cocky Goblin King that stood before her. _

_"I don't care! Jareth, why'd you let her do something like that? You knew Hoggle had come to meat her! You knew that she knew all about you and the rest of the Labyrinth! Why didn't you even TRY to save her!" Whether it was Jareth'ws fault for Alicia's mind troubles or not, it didn't matter. It felt good just to let her feelings out. _

_"Sarah-" She cut him off._

_"Don't 'Sarah' me! You know very well that you could have stopped it! No matter how much you want to deny it, you know you could have stopped it. You watc over me, don't you? You must have seen that coming!" Sarah was close to tears and it showed. Jareth picked up on it and quickly walked to stand in front of her. His words were soothing._

_"Sarah, you know that I could have done something. You also know it most likely would have anounced my presence. And you know what would have happened then..." His piercing eyes locked with hers. Sarah nodded, trying hard to sniffle back tears that were threatening to fall. His gaze turned sympathetic and he quickly wrapped the girl in a warm embrace. It was then she began crying. _

_"I just don't want to lose someone else! First Hoggle never came and then you left and now she's leaving me! It's not fair!" Jareth laughed sadly. _

_"This is true. But Hoggle eventually did come back to you. As did I. If fate has its way than Alicia will come back to you as well." Sarah threw her arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder. _

"What happened?" Sarah questioned herself. "When did I wake up?" It didn't matter. She looked out at her window; it was pitch black outside. She sighed and swung her feet over her bed, awaiting slippers slipping over her toes.

Quietly, Sarah walked back to Alicia's ward. She pushed opened the door to her room, her slippered feet gliding over the heavily waxed floor.

After passing sevveraly wards, she spotted Alicia's room, door closed. No voices could be heard within, so Sarah guesed that Alicia was alone in her room.

The door creaked open and Sarah poked her head in. Like an odd dream, Alicia's eyes were wide open, glazed over but very alert. Her head quickly turned in Sarah's direction, taking her by surprise and causing her to gasp. Alica's eyes softened a little, but still looked frightened and jittery.

"Alicia?" Sarah asked, knowing it was her, but making sure. Something seemed amiss.

Alicia nodded her head a little. "They're getting worse." Sarah assumed she ment the voices. "They're worse now. Worse than ever. Just last night, there was a girl screaming. High pitched. Like a child's. Sometimes it's a man that's screaming, he always sounds like he's so in pain. And then there was a girl...also high pitched...screaming, 'I'm burning! Save me! I'm burning! Please! Help!' But I can't ever find her. I can't help her. I can't..." Alicia's voice drifted off and her hands flew up to her ears. She started rocking back and fourth. Sarah wanted to go to her side, but she was slightly scared of her. She began backing up, trying to reach the exit. But before she could, "Sarah?" She stopped abruptly. "Please don't leave. You can't leave. Friends don't leave friends, do they?" Sarah felt a surge of pity and walked back to Alicia's side.

"I know. I'm sorry." She quickly embraced Alicia and collapsed onto the chair next to the bed.

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I felt I had to put the bit with the voies in here. My friend went through the whole "i hear voices saying..." thing. As a matter of fact, according to her that _was_ all the stuff she said she heard. And then she did the whole hands over ears& rocking back and fourth thing. So Alicia's character is pretty much based off of me friend as of now. I swear to God she's crazy sometimes...


	12. Restraint

When Sarah awoke, she found herself back in her own bed. "How did I get here?" she pondered aloud.

"How do you think?" a voice from the corner of the room answered. She recognized it immediately.

"Jareth?" She stared disbelievingly at the blonde headed male stepping out of the shadows. She could see him nod. "Why are you here? You're not real! You can't be. This can't be!" Jareth ignored her and continued coming closer, circling the bed. She might have been warm to him in her dreams. But those were her dreams. False imaginings from her mind and her mind only. So she thought, at least.

"I've grown tired of only meeting with you in your mind. Therefore I've decided to come here." He came nearer to the bed.

"But it wasn't real! This can't be real! It was only a dream! I control what I dream! Not you!" Sarah was close to being frantic.

"That's what you think, love." Sarah's eyes widened. She couldn't think of anything to say. She knew perfectly well, deep down, that what he was saying was true, but that would have meant that she had exposed her true feelings to him already. If it was a dream, she had thought that it wouldn't matter if she spoke her mind, it was only dreams, after all and in dreams, is anything ever real? For her, they were. And now there was no denying it. She had exposed her feelings to him from the beginning.

"You must be kidding me! So everything I said, you remember?" He nodded. "It was a dream though! Dreams are never real! You make up stuff to put in it!" Sarah refused to believe what was in front of her face.

"Actually, dreams tend to be where ones true thoughts come through." Jareth pointed, knowing well that he was making her nervous.

"Why couldn't you have at least told me you were coming then?" Sarah felt she had a duty to be distant with him now.

"Because I wanted to surprise you." Jareth did his best to pout, but couldn't help smiling. He finally came to sit on her bed. She moved over, not wanting to be near him then.

"Well, you managed that. Congradulations! Could you leave now?"

"I should have known this would happen. You really do want me to leave, don't you." Sarah nodded, never straying to glance anywhere but his eyes. Deep down, she wanted nothing more than to reach for him, but she knew that for now she had to stay distant. For now. "As you wish," he spoke. And with that he dissapeared in a puff of deep blue glitter.

"What's going on?" The sudden stern voice of Dr. Smith startled Sarah, caused her to jump.

"What? Nothing."

"I thought you were talking to someone."

"Me? No. No one. You must be hearing things." Satisfyed with that answer, Dr. Smith left the room.

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Sarah strode back to Alicia's room. She was greeted by a smiling face." Hi, Alicia. You're feeling better."

Alicia didn't answer her, but replyed with: "Who was that blonde guy?" Sarah's jaw nearly dropped.

"What?"

"That blonde guy. You gotta know what I'm talking about. He came in here and started talking...Then he took you and brought you back to your room." Sarah stared in disbelief at her friend's face.

"Did he...talk to you?"

"No. I pretended to be asleep. And stop avoiding the subject! Did you kow the guy?"

"Shit...I guess I knew this would happen some time or another. You remember that guy I told you about a while ago? From the Labyrinth?" Alicia nodded. "Well, that was him. Jareth, the Goblin King. He loves me, or so he said..." Sarah's eyes grew distant. "I remember just what he said, 'Fear me. Love me. Do as I say and I'll be your slave...' I didn't believe it until I started getting the dreams. I thought they were just dreams, so I told him stuff. But it wasn't a dream, and that's just it. He used that against me. He came here and told me he got tired of seeing me in my dreams. I just don't understand why he did that. Why couldn't he have just told me? I would have been fine with it if it he just told me!" Alicia stayed silent, not knowing what to say. "Sorry." Sarah sniffled. "It's just...I don't know what to do about it! There isn't anything I can do.." Sarah sat in the chair again.

"Wow...that...sucks." Alicia stated, having nothing more to say.

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Just edited this chapter. There were a lot of typos I hadn't seen last time I read this over. It's still really short though, major brain block.


	13. A Tad Crazy

Thanks for the reviews, all. Not to be vain, but I find my writing is best when it's dark. I'm amazed by how many people though it was dark...Oh well! It is what it is, I suppose. LODOWN: thanks for the sympathy! There's a lot of stuff like that going on around hereXX Bleh. But whatever. Well, common tags apply. I don't own this. It was all Jim Henson & George Lucas. Blame the geniuses for the genius. Not the n00b with no internet.

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Sarah tossed in her sleep. For now it seemed like Jareth was keeping his distance. She hadn't dreamed about him for two nights. She prayed that tonight would make the third. She slept lightly, preparing to wake herself up if he showed.

_Sarah walked along a dusty road. It looked like the stretch of land it was ploted on had long since been abandoned. The buildings were few and broken. The dirt was so hard it seemed that anything planted would die instantly. Her eyes took in the sights, feeling happy yet sad at the same time. She felt a slight longing for whatever it was she couldn't have, but she ignored it as best she could. _

_There was a soft clattering noise coming from behind one of the abandoned buildings. "Hello?" She spoke, hoping it wasn't that she thought it was. There was no answer, but the clattering grew louder as she walked towards it. Then it changed, sounding further away. Sarah decided to follow it. She followed it into a comepletely different place. Here there was a lush garden with high stone walls surrounding it. In the middle a gigantic fountain lay. The colours of the water seemed to change with each spurt. Sarah was enchanted by it. She stared for what seemed like hours at each different change. Purple, green, blue, pink, she stood, rooted to the ground, comepletely absorbed in the water. Until she heard that same noise. It sounded like someone throwing rocks at a stone wall. She ripped her eyes away from the water, trying to identify where the noise was coming from. "Who's there?" No answer. She continued walking through countless hedge mazes, the noise growning further away and then coming to sound as if it was right next to her. _

_Sarah spun wildly, yet still could not determine where the noise was coming from. She followed it into another place. A place she knew all too well. _

_She looked down at her apparal, thankful she was still in jeans and a t-shirt. A familiar tune started playing, and Sarah felt she wanted to kill herself from all the feelings that it struck._

_There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes_

_A kind of pale jewel, opened and closed within your eyes_

_I'll place the sky within your eyes._

_There's such a fooled heart, beating so fast_

_In search of new dreams, a love that will last_

_Within your heart_

_I'll place the moon within your heart._

_As the pain sweeps through, makes no sense for you_

_Every thrill has gone, wasn't too much fun at all_

_But I'll be there for you_

_As the world falls down._

_Those words struck her deeply. "I'll be there for you...As the world falls down." Had he truly met them, she wondered. There was something wrong with the song this time around, though. It was lower, more minor chords. The tune was lowered and fragmented, sounding very broken. His voice sounded like it was in slow motion. The scenery wasn't as she remembered it, either. The bubble walls seemed to be clouded, darkened, polluted. The other people within the bubble weren't showing any gaiety at all. Their faces seemed somewhat blurred, but still readable, lifeless blank expressions drug across their faces like a dead cat's blood would be drug into it's owners house by the dog next door. It was truly disturbing, in Sarah's mind. She hadn't remembered Jareth ever trying to win her over with darkness. It was then that she noticed him. Dressed in black from head to toe, a leg thrown over a throne plotted in the middle of the Masque, holding blood red crystal in hand, was Jareth._

_"Jareth?" Sarah questioned, not sure if it truly was him. This amount of darkness couldn't be possessed by Jareth. It was impossible! But his head slowly turned to look Sarah in the eye, giving her the least bit of recognition possible. A dark curtain of sorrow passed before his eyes and quickly flashed to anger. He turned his head back to look at the crystal he had in his hand. It too was warped, the inside of it being comepletely crimson. Sarah grew timid. She wanted to back away more than anything, but could only stare in horror at Jareth. _

_He stared into the the crystal, forming pictures within it. An outline of a happy family, mother, father, daughter, son, reflected in the red. Next there was a passionate couple reflected back in it. Jareth parted his lips, as if to speak, but he couldn't find the right words. After much internal struggling, he spoke. "So happy...How is it possible? They reflect so much happiness and affection, is their ever anger and sorrow for them?" Sarah stayed silent. Jareth thought to himself and after much deliberation, flung the heavy crystal against the bubble wall. The crystal burst, the blood that had been within it spilled over onto the floor. It was right in the middle of the peolple lifelessly dancing. They continued on, not noticing the bottom of their dresses and shoes were getting comepletely blood stained. Jareth sighed and Sarah's attention was back on him. "No. I suppose not." Sarah couldn't help but crying. It was terrible. How could the people not see the blood that stained them? Why would Jareth be so upset? Could it have been her? _

_"You monster! How could you? Have you gone ocmepletely crazy! You beast!" Sarah let the tears rack her body. _

_"Sticks and stones, love." He replyed, not bothering to look at her._

_"Why?" Sarah challenged, "Why are you behaving like this? What happened?"_

_"What happened. What happened! You want to know what happened? Let me tell you what happened!" Jareth stood and the entire room faded to black. There was nothing and no one there except Sarah and Jareth. "I stayed with you, through all of this, to keep you in your safe little sanity. I ould at least excpect some kind of respect for that, but no! You still don't think I'm real! I've done so much for you! And yet you continue to neglect it all!"_

_Sarah tried hard not to collapse. "What have you done for me?" She stuttered. The last time she had had confrontation with him, those three years ago, they had this same conversation. Yet she was even more afraid of him now than she was when she had been 15!_

_"What have I done for you? Everything! You told me I was the only thing keeping you sane, and within the next few days you were out of that pathetic little white room. And Alicia! You asked of me to bring her back. You don't see her with no recolection of anything, do you?" Sarah shook her head slowly. "And you ask what I've done for you..." Jareth chuckled, only quietly at first but it quickly grew to be uprorious laughter. Sarah was quite surprised at this, but soon was even more frightened. She new that laugh. Being in a ward full of them made her quite aware of it. It was not the laugh of any normal person, but the laugh of someone who had gone insane. Giddy and loud, not having any idea why they were laughing. _

_"Jareth, stop it! You're scaring me!"_

_He continued laughing. "Am I? You should have thought about that before you rejected me!" His laughter grew harder and his face grew contorted. _

_This was no dream. It was a nightmare._

_"Jareth?" Sarah questioned meekly. it didn't seem like he was even in there any more. It was just a hollow shell of someone she had once loved. "Jareth I didn't reject you! I was scared! i didn't excpect you to just come to the real world without so much as a hint to it before. But now...God Jareth now I don't even know who you are anymore! You were never like this!" She grew bolder and stepped closer. "You're so concerened with how you feel you don't even bother to think about how you could effect others! Damnit I loved you! I told you before and I guess there's no denying it anymore." Jareth continued laughing. "SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME! God come back to me! Stop being such an ass!" His laughter quieted, but was still there. Sarah couldn't take it any more. A rage burned inside her that she didn't know she could ever possess. With anger burning in her heart like a towering building being engulfed by spiteful flames, she slapped him across the face. He stopped laughing immediatly._

_Jareth stood, amazed at Sarah's sudden boldness. Sarah was amazed as much as Jareth was. She never dreamed she'd be able to hit him, yet here they were. "S-Sarah?" Jareth spoke like the sense had been knocked into him. She nodded, trying hard to show no trace of emotion. Jareth put his hand to his face where she had hit him, pulling away slightly as it stung. "You hit me." Sarah kept her poker face._

_"I did."_

_"Why?" Jareth looked truly hurt. Sarah couldn't stand it, but still kept her distance. She felt that she had to, that the person she had hit wasn't the person she had grown to love. _

_"Find out for yourself." Sarah said coldly. _

_"Sarah! Wait!" Jareth pleaded, knowing that she was probably to wake up after that. It was so out of character for Jareth to plead, but the urgency and sadness in his voice was the only thing that got Sarah to turn around. "You're right. Perhaps I was thinking selfishly when I came to you. I didn't know how you were to react. It was wrong of me to think that just because I came you would be happy. Could I have another chance? Please." He kept a strighat face, but in his eyes she could tell that he was hurting. It was impossible for her to stay mad at him. Her eyes warmed and instead of answering she embraced him._

_"Hold me." She whispered into his ear. She felt good knowing that he really was real and that she wasn't in love with a being that dwelled in her head. He nodded and held her closer. "Are you going to come again though?"_

_"What?" _

_"To the real world. Cuz you have to go through all this paperwork and crap and you can only come during, like, between 12 and 5. And-" he cut her off._

_"Do you want me to come again?" Sarah held her breath but nodded._

_"Then I will." Sarah's eyes widened and she held him closer, wanting to never let him go, having just gotten him back. She still did not understand why he had gotten so crazy. Sarah was thankful that it was a spell that only lasted for an hour. But that hour had been one of the worst times of her life. She feared of what would happen if it happened again. _

_"Is it time for me to wake up yet?" Sarah asked, her voice dreamy._

_"It doesn't have to be..."Jareth's voice drifted off. _

_"Good." She snuggled closer into Jareth's shoulder. As if he could read her mind, Jareth transported them both back to the Labyrnth, away from the madness of the little black room. Away from the muddled Masque. Now it really was just he and Sarah. The way they both were before. The way they should have been from the beginning._


	14. Lies For Friends

OH MY GOD! Your reviews made me so happy! I aim to please. Well, sorry for the long wait. Just got back to the Aunt's house where I FINALLY HAVE INTERNET! SCORE! And Meri-san, I know! I do all my stuff on Text Edit and it seems so long! But it's not...-sigh-

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Sarah awoke to several doctors hovering around her. She was slightly dazed, then looked at the clock. "Holy shit! It's 6 in the morning!" She clapped a hand to her forehead. "I've been sleeping all day!"

One of the doctors shook his head. "You've been asleep a little longer than that, Sarah." She still looked confused, so the doctor continued. "You've been asleep for about three days. We were getting worried about you."

Sarah let out a meek laugh. "I guess I was tired..." The doctors all looked at one another, when a familiar voice cut through the crowd.

"Well? What did you call me for? The girl looks fine!" Dr. Smith burst through the swarm of doctors.

"She didn't before, Kyle. She's been asleep for three days." Another familiar voice answered.

"Dr. Cowen? What're you doing here? I thought you were still in Alicia's ward..." Sarah was very confused. She had been tired! Why did people have to be so worried about someone sleeping for a long while?

"Well, you're a...special case." Sarah was even more confused about this.

"Why am I a special case?" Dr. Cowen didn't answer. Instead, she turned to Dr. Smith and the other doctors.

"Would you mind if I spent a few hours alone with the patient? I want to do some research." She asked.

Dr. Smith looked like he was going to put up a fight. "Cecilia, this is my patient and I don't think-" Dr. Cowen cut him off.

"Please. Be professional. You sound like a whining five year old!" Dr. Cowen laughed as she spoke, showing him she was only kidding. Dumfounded, Dr. Smith nodded and quickly led the other concerned doctors out of the room. Dr. Cowen looked towards the door and waited until every last one of them was gone. She then walked quickly to the door and shut it, locking it from inside after closing it.

Before Sarah could even asked what this was about, Dr. Cowen answered. "I knew there was something special about you."

Sarah was even more dazed than she had been when she woke up. "What do you mean?"

"I knew there was something special about you. Reading your files only confirmed my thoughts." Sarah raised an eyebrow in confusion. Dr. Cowen smiled, old recoletcion shining in her eyes. "Sorry to confuse you, but I suppose you fell for his joke as well." She sighed and sat down.

"What _are _you talking about?" This conversation was making her nervous.

"I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. What I'm trying to say is-" She took a breath- "is that I believe you." The words felt like sun beaming down on Sarah. She acted dumb, though.

"You believe me about what?"

"I told you! I read your file. What you said you saw...The Labyrinth, the Goblins, Jareth..." Sarah looked up quickly.

"i didn't say his name in the paperwork! How'd you know it?"

"He never mentioned the other people who've gone against the Labyrinth, has he?" Sarah shook her head and Dr. Cowen looked at the ground. "No. I don't see why he would. But when I was around 13, I wished my little sister away. I had to go on the same quest as you." Sarah's eyes widened in amazement.

"What happened?" Sarah felt like a little girl, being told a bedtime story she had heard somewhere along the line once before.

"Well, I traveled through the Labyrinth. I was so determined to get my sister back. And I came so close...So close..."

"Did you get her back?"

"Almost. But not quite. I made it to the Escher Room. And she changed, right before my eyes. Her feet and ears got all big and she looked so distorted...I didn't get it then. Jareth was the enemy, yet here he was offering me my dreams! I didn't know what to do! So I did the only thing I could. I took my dreams. I had wanted to be a doctor since I was four...And here I am! Those ten years later. But my dreams didn't have anything to do with memory erasing, I guess. It pains me to this day that I let my own flesh and blood melt away!" Sarah saw a stray tear run down Cecilia's face. She sniffled and continued. "But I guess I asked for it, huh. He told me that I was the closest anyone ever came to beating the Labyrinth."

"Until me." Dr. Cowen looked up at her, tears streaked on her face.

"What?"

"I beat it. Three years ago. That's why I'm here. The pressure of it all built up. So I told my stepmom. She thought I was nuts so she called the funny farm on me!"

"That sucks..."

"Yeah..."

"Hey. Could I talk to you again about stuff like this?"

Sarah nodded. "That depends, do I have to address you formally?"

"I guess a proper introduction should be made. I'm Cecilia." She stuck out her hand. Sarah took it in hers, shook it, and looked up at her new friend.

"And I'm Sarah. But I think you know that by now." Sarah smiled.

Cecilia sighed. "Well, enough of a sob story for one day. I'll see you tomorrow?" Sarah nodded.

As soon as Cecilia was about to leave the small room, the phone by the door began to ring. Sarah stared at the phone for several seconds, wondering why anyone would call here.

"Aren't you gonna answer it?" Cecilia questioned from the doorway, snapping Sarah out of her daze.

"What? Oh, yeah." Sarah quickly got up and ran to the phone, picking it up before regaining her balance. "Hello?" she spoke into the receiver.

"Hello. Sarah? Sarah Williams?"

"Yes?"

"There is a visitor for you. Would you like them to be sent up?"

"Um...sure?"

The phone operator hung up. Sarah was slightly confused, but shrugged. "Hey, Cecilia? You wanna stay? Someone wanted to visit me..." Cecilia shook her head.

"No. I wouldn't want to intrude. Besides, I have some other things to do. Don't really want to get fired." Sarah shrugged and nodded.

"I understand." Without another word, Cecilia left the room. She managed to walk halfway out into the hall, when a man with wild blonde hair and dazzling mismatched eyes passed her. He was wearing earth apparel, a pair of tight jeans and loose dress shirt, as well as his classic leather boots. The hair and eyes were the same as Cecilia remembered them, only without as much makeup. She stopped abruptly.

The girl stopping caught his eye. He stopped as well, turning to stare at her. "Do I know you?" he asked, almost as rudely as he could. His voice filled Cecilia's head with remembrance and fright.

"You might not remember me," She said meekly, "But I remember you." One of Jareth's painted eyebrows raised. "You really don't remember me, do you?"

"I can't say that I do." Cecilia looked at her feet.

"No. I guess you wouldn't. It was ten years ago, after all." His eyebrow raised higher.

"What was?" Just then, realization struck him like a tidal wave. "No. It can't be." He shook his mane of blonde hair and continued walking to Sarah's room.

"Can't be what?" Jareth ignored her and walked faster. At long last, he arrived at Sarah's room.

He saw Sarah's form resting on the bed, back turned towards the door. Without so much as a word, he walked near her, sitting on the space of the bed that was not acquired by her body.

Sarah had been struggling not to fall back asleep. Her eyes fluttered open as soon as she felt the pressure on the bed. She had momentarily forgotten about the visitor she was supposed to be receiving. She sighed and spoke half sleeping. "Cecilia?" she asked, thinking that she had decided on staying.

Instead of answering, Jareth lay down by her side, wrapping his arms around her waist. "No, love."

Sarah was completely awake now. Though he couldn't see it, her mouth was opened in shock. She turned her head to look up, making sure that it was actually him. Sure enough, a piece of untamed blonde hair fell into her face and she stared into the smiling eyes of the Goblin King.

Without a warning, Sarah turned and threw her arms around him, burying her head in his neck, taking in his spicy scent. "You're actually here!"

"You were expecting me not to come? You did ask this of me, after all. Did you not?" Sarah nodded and happily hugged him nearer. Sarah pulled back to look at him. He looked a little different, wearing normal street clothes and not as much eye makeup as when she usually saw him. She stared into his eyes, blue and hazel pools of feeling for her. It was as if he could read her mind. He waved his hand casually behind him, and the door slowly creaked closed. His eyes roamed from her eyes to her mouth and back again. Sarah bit her lower lip and managed to smile at the same time. His face drew nearer to hers. After what seemed like an eternity, their lips met.

Jareth was glad for Sarah's forgiveness, and showed her fully. He used his tongue to gently part Sarah's mouth, and was surprised when she didn't pull back. Instead she leaned into him, biting his lower lip playfully. Jareth's lips roamed, returning the bite to her neck. Sarah couldn't help but laugh at his eagerness. She tipped her head upwards, giving him better space of her flesh.

It was as if fate had wished it to be this way, one at the time of her life, finally feeling she had some friends and that she belonged, even if it wasn't the greatest place to belong _in_. The other at the ultimate low, after temporarily going crazy. They could almost sense each other's still persistent dependence on one another, like a pair of gloves. They belonged.

Just then, there came a knocking at the door. At first the two ignored it, it didn't matter to them. The knocking grew persistent still, yet neither got up from the bed.

Cecilia stood knocking at Sarah's door. She knew who that man was, and she was certainly _not _letting him lay a hand on Sarah.

She couldn't take it anymore. Cecilia burst through the door, catching the kissing couple by surprise. Jareth immediately sprung to turn around, wanting to see who had interrupted them. Sarah too sat up, head peeking up behind Jareth's shoulder.

"What the HELL is going on in here!" Cecilia's angry eyes stared Jareth dead on, blaming him for the entire scenario. He and Sarah looked down at the sheets of the bed, feeling like children that had just been reprimanded for stealing cookies from the cookie jar. When they didn't answer, Cecilia continued. "Why did you have to come back! Things would have been better off if you just left well enough alone. What did you think your place was here?She'd be better off without you! I know I was!" Jareth stared back at her like she'd just slapped him in the face. Cecilia's confidence grew as he failed to answer her questions. "Oh! So you haven't told Sarah about those 10 years ago, did you? You should have known that'd come to bite you in the ass!"

"How was I to know you two knew each other?" Jareth asked defiantly. Sarah stared dumbly at the two.

"Jareth, what is she talking about?" Sarah asked, even more confused than she already had been.

"Oh I'll tell you what I'm talking about!" Cecilia was almost yelling. "'Fear me, love me do as I say'...sound familiar!" Sarah slowly nodded. "Well, you weren't the first person he'd ever said it to. He said it to me, when I went to that god-damn Labyrinth!" Sarah looked astonished. Immediately, she swung her head to stare angrily at Jareth.

"Is it true?" Jareth stared into the floor, but nodded all the same. "How could you? You were just playing me? Manipulating me? Why?"

"I wasn't. I swear." Jareth spoke quietly, losing every ounce of self confidence that he possessed. He tried to think of a reason for what he had done to the two girls. "Well, I will admit that with the first I was trying to manipulate her to do as I wished, but Sarah, with you I meant it. No offense, Cecilia, but Sarah was far more cunning later on through her travels. And it was that which I grew to love. Which was why what I said to you I meant." Sarah softened a little, but was still quite angry.

"Then why did you use the same words?" Cecilia asked accusitorilly.

Jareth was prepared for the question, this time. "Well, the first time I said it, it was just something that had come into mind. The second time, however, it was the closest thing there was to the way I truly felt. 'Fear me, love me, do as I say and I'll be your slave. Let me rule you. And you can have anything you want.' I suppose even those few years ago I was slightly naive. You need not have to follow my every whim. I merely should have told you how I felt. And that was that I would do anything for you. Sarah," He ignored the sputtering protests of Cecilia in the background and cupped Sarah's face with his hands. "I love you."

Sarah seemed to be buying every word Jareth spoke. He meant it with the most sencerity, but Cecilia refused to believe it.

"Then why didn't you! You should have just told her that! Why'd you same the same thing twice if you didn't even mean it once!" Cecilia asked, thinking that to that there'd be no smart answer.

"I told you. Even three years ago I was naive. I thought in order to love you I had to be worshipped by you. However over the course of the years, I've come to know otherwise." Jareth answered triumphantly.

"But...why? Why did you say that to me? I believed you!"

"Last ditch attempt to get you to take your god forsaken dreams. It was suposed to frighten you into taking them. I can see that it worked." Jareth looked around the dingy hosptial room.

Cecilia tried to stutter a rebutle, but could think of none. She stormed out of the room in a huff, slamming the door behind her.

"Why hadn't you told me all this stuff before?" Sarah turned angrily to Jareth. "For once, Jareth just give me the truth!"

"I have been! I just...haven't been telling you all of it." He said uncertainly. Sarah raised an eyebrow, unconvinced, so he continued. "I swear, she was the only other person that I've _ever_ said that to."

"And if I hadn't known Cecilia would you have still told me this?" Jareth felt he couldn't speak, so he simply nodded.

"Good." Sarah said smugly. "Now you owe me for not telling me sooner." She smiled wickedly.

"And what is it that I owe you?" Jareth asked, playing dumb.

"Oh," Sarah spoke, wrapping her arms around his neck again, bringing him to lie down on the bed once again. "You'll think of something."

"And if I don't?"

Sarah bit his lower lip with her teeth and whispered into his mouth. "Then I'll help you think of it." Jareth chuckled and kissed her back, eager that, again, her forgiveness came quickly.


	15. Meetings

Okay, Okay. I know that it's taken me a reeeally long time to update. I've had a rough week...My grandfather just died last night, I've been my feuding friends' mediator AND as the icing on the cake, my currently-divorcing-my-father mother found out about my dad's girlfriend. Man was she pissed. Anyway, enough of my ranting. I doubt any of my readers care about these things. So, I shall continue on my merry way with this. Hope you have more fun reading it than I did trying to write it! (It's been hell just getting on the computer.)

LL- I know I know! I went overboard, didn't I? I did. Ugh. Plus I couldn't think of how to end the friggin chappie!

LabyrinthLvrPhx-Maaaaaaaayyyybe...Wouldn't want to give away the plotline, now would we?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sarah awoke to a fierce pair of eyes a foot away from her face. She'd know them anywhere.

"Karen! What are you doing here!" Sarah's eyes roamed the bed, making sure that Jareth had long since disappeared before meeting Karen's gaze.

"I don't know! Ask Toby! He's been running around the foot of your bed for the past half hour waiting for you to wake up" Sarah stared horrified as her worst nightmare almost came true.

"Sarah! You're up! Yay!" Toby pounced onto the bed and Sarah caught him in her arms.

"Yes I am. How long have you been here?" Sarah questioned, ignoring her stepmother's last statement.

"Oh, I dunno. Forever...And a half!" Toby giggled and hopped off the bed. He hit the floor, spread his arms, and ran around the room in circles, making fighter plane noises. "Look, Sarah, I'm a plane!" He ran around in continuous circles. Sarah raised an eyebrow but laughed all the same.

"He seems happy."

Karen scoffed. "I can't imagine why," She said sarcastically. "Sarah! This place is filthy! Do you ever clean in here?"

Sarah pondered this for a moment. "I simply haven't had the time," She sighed, "What with constant doctors coming into check on me, people visiting-" Sarah was cut off.

"Visiting? Who's been visiting you? Was it a boy?" Karen suddenly looked interested. Sarah remembered, ever since she was thirteen, Karen had always bugged her about boys. She hadn't had many boyfriends, and the ones she had had were often scared away by Karen and her father and their bombarding questions.

"Um...no. No one. I was just talking hypothetically." Sarah said, not sounding reassuring in the least.

"Uh huh. Okay then." Karen nodded, mot buying a word of it. "So then, what _have _you been doing with yourself all of this time?" Sarah thought for a moment.

"I've visited my roommate in another ward a lot. She fell and got put...elsewhere." Sarah wasn't about to tell her stepmother the reason Alicia was in the "other" ward. For the first time, Sarah felt like at least somewhere there was home, even though for now that somewhere was the hospital. More people understood her here than in her regular home.

"Sarah?" Toby's voice rang though the awkward silence. "Will you play with me?" Sarah smiled genuinely.

"Sure, Tobe. What do you wanna do?

"Um...I wanna go for a walk!" He squealed happily.

"I don't think-" It was Sarah's turn to cut someone of.

"Sure thing, Tobe! Chill, Karen. Just lemme get dressed. Would you guys mind standing outside for a minute?" Sarah had hated the ugly half open hospital gowns from the moment she had seen them. But evidently, yesterday all her other clothes had been in the wash, for now, neatly folded on a chair, lay all of her clothes from the past week. She smiled, glad for her nurse's timeliness when it came to laundry. She pulled the covers off of her legs and a paper gently fluttered off the other side of the bed. It looked like it had been written in a hurry. Sarah quickly unfolded the note and read to herself:

_Beloved Sarah, _

_I'm afraid I must be leaving you now. Karen and Toby should be arriving in an hour or so. I do believe I have an idea as how to make your dearest stepmother pay for what she did to you, which will hopefully help us all. It was a pleasure staying with you on the Aboveground, which shall hopefully be relived soon. Tell Toby I say hello!_

_Yours eternally,_

_J._

Sarah couldn't help but smile as she held the letter close to her heart. She quickly pulled an Abercrombie and Fitch shirt over her head and a pair of jeans on. Neatly folding the letter up and putting it into her pants pocket, she walked outside of her room and grabbed Toby's hand.

"Ready Tobe?" He quickly nodded and followed Sarah into the main hallway.

"Bye, Mommy!" He called over his shoulder.

"Hey!" Came a gruff voice from a wheelchair. Sarah looked down and realized she had almost walked into a roaming Daniel. "Watch where you're going!" He looked up. "Oh, Sarah. Never mind. Hi."

"Haven't seen you in a while, Daniel. How are you?" Sarah spoke gently.

"Eh, been better. You know me. But the doc says I can go home in a few weeks. I'll just have his special cast as a memory of this Hell-hole."

"That's great! Congrats!" She smiled widely for him.

"How 'bout you? When're you getting out?" He questioned.

"Dunno. Whenever Smith takes me off the medication. I think he said a few more months." Toby finally spoke up.

"That long? You're gonna miss your own birthday in this place!" Daniel jumped in his seat at this sudden small voice.

"Woah! Didn't see ya there, squirt. You have a kid?" He stared up questioningly at Sarah.

"What? Me? No! This is my kid brother, Toby. Toby, this is Daniel. Daniel, Toby." Sarah smiled shyly.

"Pleased ta meet ya, Tobe-boy!" Daniel stuck out his hand and Toby shook it shyly. "Well, now that we're all acquainted and such, wanna go to the café and get a burger or something?" Sarah's face did a contortionist act.

"Um, Not really _wanting_ to get poisoned here, but we'll go with you." Daniel smiled and motioned for them to follow.

Several floors later, they arrived at a rather large room full of people. The air smelled of cold pizza and milk cartons. "Eugh," Sarah said, plugging her nose. "And people actually eat in here?"

Daniel nodded slowly. "Unless they want to starve to death."

"Wow. And I thought all of the food that was delivered up to my room wasn't from here. I thought...I don't even know what I thought. Maybe I'll just go up to my room and live out the rest of that fantasy.

"I don't blame you."

Toby finally piped up. "Sarah, this place smells bad!" Sarah could've laughed at that statement. He sounded like Ludo when they all got stuck in the Bog.

"Yeah...Let's go. Hey, Daniel?'

"Yeah?"

"Do the doctors ever let someone out of the hospital? Like...for a walk or something?"

"Yeah, I think so. But you have to have a doctor or nurse escort." Daniel answered uncertainly.

"Damn. Oh well." Sarah sighed. "I suppose we'll go later. I don't feel like taking a walk now, anyway. As a matter of fact, I'm getting kinda tired. Toby, what say we go back to the room?" She said, staring out one of the cafeteria windows.

Toby looked down at his feet. "Aw...Okay, Sarah," He whined, "It was nice meeting you, Daniel." He said shyly.

"The pleasure was mine, kid," Daniel reached out a hand and ruffled Toby's hair, then attempted to bow in his seat. Toby giggled. Daniel turned to Sarah.

"You okay?" He asked. Something seemed off about her. She seemed to be thinking of other things.

"What?" Something had caught her attention outside. Something feathery and white, very out of place amidst the concrete jungle that was New York City. Something with wings. "Oh, um, yeah. I just...thought I saw something outside."

Daniel turned to look out the same window as Sarah. "I don't see anything." Sarah sighed. The owl had disappeared.

"Oh. It's okay. Walk us back...or...roll?" Daniel nodded and smiled.

"Sure thing!"

The three started the slow walk back to the elevator. "So, why are your eyes two different colours?" Toby questioned.

"Oh, well, when I was about ten years old, I was climbing a tree. It was a very large tree, and almost winter, so there were almost no leaves to cushion my fall. One of the branches was weak, but I didn't know that, so I stepped on it any way. It splintered, and a large woodchip splintered into my eye. Before I knew it I was in the emergency room. Luckily, I didn't need a new eye; it just changed colours. So now I can barely see out of one eye but it's okay. Well, there's my sob story."

"Wow. I didn't know," Sarah said quietly. "I'm sorry." Daniel quickly shook his head.

"Eh, don't worry about it. It happened a while ago. It's okay." He answered. A bell ringing quickly took their attention. "Well," Sarah said, "here's the elevator. Thank you for escorting us."

"Thank you for putting up with me," He answered smugly. Sarah smiled and Toby laughed.

"He's funny, Sarah. I like him," Toby stated as they got onto the elevator. He then waved to Daniel, who was obscured from view by the closing metal doors. Sarah pushed the button for the floor her room was on and turned to look at the small boy beside her.

"So do I...He's easy to talk to."

"Why's he here?"

"Hmm. He banged his leg up pretty badly. There was a lot of alcohol in his body." She answered lightly.

"Oh."

The bell dinged again and the door opened to a frustrated Karen pacing in circles around the entranceway to Sarah's room.

"Where have you two been!" Her voice cut through the air like a freshly sharpened knife. "I've been waiting here for I don't know how long! And that bird pecking at he window for the past half hour has been giving me an insane headache! Come on, Toby, we're leaving." Karen tried to take Toby's small hand but he rushed to the window.

"It's a pretty birdie!" He cried, staring at it in wonder. Sarah stood glued to the spot outside her room, quite well aware of the 'pretty birdie's' longing to get into the room.

"Uh, yeah..." Sarah walked to her window, about to open it.

"Just _what_ do you think you're doing! Letting wildlife into a perfectly respectable hospital. You would think I raised you in the woods!"

"You didn't raise me." Sarah muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing," Sarah said with a smirk as she opened the window. An almost perfectly white owl with dazzling eyes flew into he room and immediately perched in Sarah's shoulder. Sarah gave the bird a warning look. If his cover was blown, they'd be in serious trouble. The bird nipped her ear affectionately, yet took the hint and perched on the bedside table. A lazy smile overtook Sarah's face as she flung herself onto her bed, staring up at Karen's seething face.

"I wanna pet it!" Toby cried, but was restrained from running by the death grip Karen had on the boy's arm.

"No, Toby. It might have...rabies or something." Karen snapped.

"It's fine, Karen. This bird seems pretty harmless." The bird cocked his head to the side in response. Karen sighed and Toby broke free from a stern stepmother.

"It's pretty! Have you seen it before, Sarah? It's really well behaved!" Toby's burst of energy made Sarah laugh.

"Yeah, I've seen it a few times." Sarah subtly winked at the bird. It cocked its head.

Karen broke up the convorsation. "Toby, I think it's time we let poor Sarah rest. Don't you?"

Toby looked like he was going to put up a fight, but Karen looked as if she would explode if he didn't do as he was told, so hanging his head, he followed his mother. "Bye, Sarah. Bye, birdie." Karen grabbed Toby's arm and hauled the poor child out the door into the elevator.

"You know you didn't have to do that," Sarah stated aloud when she was sure that Karen and Toby were well out of earshot.

"I know. But I wanted to see how much the lad had grown." Jareth's quirky voice filled the air. He sat where the owl had been perched only a few moments ago.

"Were you spying on me" The corner of Sarah's mouth curved upwards slightly. "I saw you outside of the Cafeteria."

"Spying? Me? I would never stoop that low!"

"Then what were you doing there?"

"Looking at you. Who was that man you were with?" Jareth asked uncertainly.

"Who, Daniel? He's just one of my friends." Jareth nodded.

"Ah. You got my note, I presume?" It was Sarah's turn to nod.

"It was sweet. Thanks." She stood on her tiptoes and planted a light kiss on Jareth's cheek. He smiled and sat on the bed, pulling her onto his lap. "Hey Jareth?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think she'll _ever_ like me?"

"Who, Karen? I'm amazed she doesn't already. What with your sparkling personality and all." Sarah smiled.

"You're just saying that."

"Yes. I am. I honestly don't know why she doesn't seem to like you. Maybe you remind her too much of the first woman your father was married to. And that that first woman wasn't her."

"You're probably right." Sarah sighed.

"Love, I'm afraid I must be off. I have some plans involving...certain things...that I must get back to. I'll see you soon?"

"Involving what?"

"You'll find out soon enough. I promise." Sarah nodded. Without so much as another word, he kissed her gently on the forehead and disappeared in a puff of blue and white glitter.


	16. Of Things to come

Sarah tossed and turned in her sleep. She had thought the nightmares had ended with the disturbed ball room. But she was wrong. This was possibly worse than any other dream she had ever had, perhaps not by much, but still bad. This time it seemed too real. There was no element of fantasy, no Goblin King ot make it all better.

But there was a woman. She looked vaguely familar. She writhed in pain on the linolium ground, grasping at the sides of her contorted face with shaking hands. "Why...Why would you do this to me?" A weak voice muttered from her stuttering lips. She rolled over so her face was barely visible in the pale moonlight.

"Karen?" Sarah stuttered. She felt so lost; she had never particularly liked Karen, but this was all too much. No one should have had to suffer this much, not even a woman as vile and fowl as her step mother. The woman on the floor shivered and rolled uncontrollaby. It looked like she was having a seizure, but that couldn't be. Sarah felt there was something else there.

"Sarah?" She squinted up at her step-daughter with bloodshot eyes. "I'm so sorry. I should have believed-" She was cut off by uncontrollable coughing. She turned her head towards the floor once again and coughed more than a human would think possible.

"Karen? Karen, what's wrong? Talk to me!" Part of Sarah felt sick; that part of her enjoyed watching Karen suffer. But it was wrong. She had been raised better than that.

"I-" Cough. "I-" Cough. "I-" Uncontrollable this time. A small spurt of blood spat from the lady's mouth. "Who would have thought it would hurt his much?" She questioned weakly.

"What would hurt?" Sarah asked, trying to keep calm.

"Remembering..." Karen's voice faded off. The dim light that had once shone in her eyes was put out. Her chest stopped heaving.

"Karen?" Sarah asked meekly, half knowing there would be no reply. "Karen?" Nothing. "Wake up, Karen." Sarah got on her knees and nudged the still form with her hand. She looked up to the sky, mortified by what had just happened. "Jareth!" She took in a ragged breath. "What did you do to her! Bring her back!" Sarah wasn't sure if it had indeed been Jareth who got rid of her no longer wicked step-mother's life. She vaguely recalled Jareth saying something about a secret plan. Had this been it? Did he want to remove one of the only problems standing in his way for coming back to the Aboveground?

Sarah awoke furious. She looked around quickly, making sure that she was the only one in the room. "Damnit, Jareth!" She sighed and recited: "I wish the Goblin King would come here right now!" In a rush of blue glitter, there he stood in all his glory. Sarah was still fuming. "What did you do to her?" Jareth looked confused.

"What did I do to whom?" He questioned, not having the slightest clue as to what she was talking about.

"You know pretty well what I'm talking about. Karen. What did you do to her?"

Jareth stared at her inquisitively. "I've done nothing." He cocked his head, piercing eyes staring through the angry girl sitting on the bed. "Did you want me to?" He couldn't help but let a small smile escape his lips.

"Stop mocking me! I had a dream! She was sick. Like really sick. She said something about...about how much it hurts to remember things...and then...that she was sorry...and then...and then...how could you?" She stared at him angrily, eyes boring holes into his skull.

"I haven't done anything! What are you talking about?" He asked, slightly concerned about his beloved's train of thought. He sat opposite her on the bed.

"She died! You did something! You must have! How else would she 'remember things', huh?" Tears threatened to fall over the lids of her eyes, but she wouldn't let them.

"Sarah, think for a moment. Would I ever do anything to cause you pain?" Sarah closed her eyes in thought.

"Well, you did take my baby brother away three years-" He cut her off.

"Let me rephrase that. Would I ever do anything to cause you pain that you didn't ask me to do?" Sarah slowly shook her head. "Did you ask for me to bring harm to your step-mother?" Another head shake. "Then what would I have done? What was my motive, then?" For a third time, Sarah shook her head.

"I don't know..."

"It was just a dream. I promise you. Go back to sleep." Sarah nodded and hugged him tightly. How was it that he always knew what to say in times like these?

"Goodnight, Jareth." She sighed breathlessly.

"Goodnight, love." He kissed her forehead lightly and dissapeared.

He was right. He had no motive to hurt Karen. Never before had she realized how much Karen meant to her.

After arriving back in the castle, Jareth got back to the heavy potion book set at his desk. He began writing down ingrediants he would need and then briskly walked down to the dungeons, kicking stray goblins as he went. Upon arriving below, he scanned his list and grabbed a pitch back vile and poured its contents a large vat. The concoction within the vat bubbled loudly and a hazey cloud formed over the top of it. From the fog, a small spark whistled and popped until a large burst of fire was emitted from it. Jareth jumped back, barely missing the flame. After adding one of the last ingrediants, he rushed back upstairs. He didn't want anyone else knowing what he was doing. Sarah was suspicious enough as it was...

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OKAY! Done! I know, it's uberly short. But what can you do? I have but a small request. Could I at least get two reviews on this chapter? The zippo reviews on the last one left me a bit down...

Jareth: A bit down? Only a bit? It was you who was crying on the floor after the last chapter was out for half a month and there were still no reviews, wasn't it?

No one else needs to know that part.

Jareth: I mean, I can see why though, the lack of me probably had something to do with it...

Shut up!

Jareth: Or maybe it was because of Karen! Thank god I-

Really, time to shut your trap. No need to give away the plot line, right?

Jareth: You do have one, right?

One what?

Jareth: A plot line!

Sarah: No shit she does! If she didn't, what would be the whole point of writing this?

Jareth: Point taken, love.

See? Now why will he listen to you but not me?

Sarah: you're the one writing this, not us. You could make me slap him if you wanted to. You wouldn't even need a reason! Sure, stupid Jareth fangirls would hate you forever and...I'm pretty sure Jareth would be mightely pissed but...it'd be fun anyway!

Possibilities...possibilities...Jareth's right though. I do indeed have a plot! WOOOOO! Review if you value your life...

Jareth: Or if you don't want her to start sobbing again..

SHUT IT!

Jareth-buttons lip-


	17. Darkened

Wow. That worked really well. Yay! Because of all the reviews, I thought I'd write another chappie. I'm suddenly inspired...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sarah's fingers trembled as she dialed the numbers on the phone. Slowly it began to ring. Sarah held her breath. After the fourth ring, a raspy voice answered on the end of the phone line. "Hello?" She closed her eyes.

"Daddy?"

"Sarah? Why are you calling? It's after midnight! Are you okay? Is anything wrong?"

Sarah shook her head even though he couldn't see it. "No. Nothing. Um, is Karen there?"

On the other end of the phone, Richard looked astounded. _Karen? When's the last time she's ever asked for Karen?_ he thought.

"Um. yeah. I'll go get her, I guess." Richard said, still disbelieving. Sarah heard the phone being put down and her father's heavy footsteps trampling up the stairs. Lighter footsteps could be heard a minute later, and the phone was then picked up.

"Sarah?" Karen's voice sounded tired as well. Sarah forgot it was a Monday night. She let out the breath she had been holding.

"Oh good. You're there. I just wanted to...say hi..." Sarah leaned against the wall that the phone was hooked into. Karen was safe. Everything was fine. For now.

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Jareth sat casually on his thrown. He was slightly worried about his plan, he didn't want his Sarah to feel like she couldn't trust him. But he wanted her to have someone in her family who would understand. Toby had been too young to remember any of it, and her father would be too unopened to the whole thing. But Karen...It seemed like ther was an active imagination hidden beneath the stiff, cold mask she always seemed to bear. Jareth grew restless, staring at what his land was made up of. All the goblins around were hurrendous, but in a sense, he owned them, and that was good enough. He tapped his riding crop against his left ankle, wondering when the potion would be ready.

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Sarah hung up the phone with a satisfying click. Everything was okay. Karen didn't sound harmed. Perhaps a little mad, but not harmed. She looked out the window. Pitch black. It couldn't be any later than three, she guessed. Sarah yawned. The sleep she had had hadn't given her any actual rest. She tried again, but the minute she closed her eyes, darkened dreams flicked behind her eyelids.

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The Fae in the throne conjoured up a crystal quickly. In it, Karen was walking up the stairs after just hanging up the phone. She muttered something under her breath, probably about Sarah calling at that hour. But it didn't matter. Not to him. He watched her climb back into bed, Richard already breathing heavily in sleep. He feared Sarah would be mad about this, but there was no reason that she needed to know. She already seemed to believe him, there was nothing to worry about. He walked slowly to the dungeons, giving her step-mother time to fall back asleep. After a while of waiting, Karen's breath became heavy and a light snore could be heard. _Perfect, _Jareth thought. He arrived to the dark cauldron he had been working at the night before and slowly ladeled it onto the crystal. Instead of dripping over the sides of the crystal and onto the floor, the black, thick liquid was absorbed the as if it were nothing but air. "Sleep well, Karen." He whispered to the crystal before banishing it. From a small hole in the heavy dungeon door, the eye of a certain dwarf flowed with wonder at whatever it was that his King was doing. Quickly, he snapped out of it and hurried along, trying to find a mirror.

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_Everything was dark. It looked like it was night time within the neverending Labyrinth. But it couldn't be. She remembered this clear as day. Hoggle was walking with her, she was about to meet Ludo. So then why was it dark? That question was answered quickly. A quick flash of Karen appeared. Again, she was rolling on the floor. Sarah wanted to help her, but for some reason, she couldn't move. It was like she was glued to the spot. She tried calling out, but her lips seemed stitched shut. Suddenly, Jareth was there. "This is a dream. This can't be happening. You wouldn't do this." Jareth shook his head._

_"It might be a dream." The dream Jareth pondered. "What do you think?"_

_"It couldn't be! You said that you wouldn't do this." Jareth laughed at her words and disapeared. _

Sarah woke up extremely confused. She wanted answers, but for the time being she trusted in Jareth's first words.

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Karen awoke with a start. What was that? She saw her step daughter, and some short ugly thing next to her. Why were there so many walls? It had to have been a dream, but it felt like so much more than that. Like a memory...

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You wanted to know what was gonna happen? There you have it, folks. Hooray for it being really short! I know...It could have been longer. But I'm getting my laptop confiscated for a while so I figured that I'd update before then. Same updating and new chapter rules shall apply as on the last chapter. Keep that in mind. Your reviews mean a lot! Keep em coming!


	18. Author's Note!

I am terribly sorry for the delay of the next chapter. I had a good idea for the ending,so I typed that up. Then I had a good idea for the chapter before the last chapter, so I've started typing that as well...So I've pretty much begun to write this thing in reverse. However! I'm going to post next chapter soon...

My sincerest of apologies,

Anon


	19. CH18Boredom

Hello all! I'm at my grandmother's house, hence the computerness. I might not get another chance to update very soon, what with my laptop dying and all. This time it really did die! So by the way, anyone know where to find inexpensive Apple laptop chargers? But yeah, didn't want any of you dying, so here's the next chapter. Enjoy and review!

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Karen rocked back and fourth, partly in shock, partly in disbelief. It was impossible! Could what her step-daughter said be true? Could there have really been a Labyrinth? No. Of course not! Maybe I'm just feeling sympathetic for her, Karen thought to herself. But a disgusted voice in the back of her head knew otherwise. It happened! It really happened! Something that vivid could not be described to you in only words, fool! Karen shook her head yet again and fell back on to her pillow. How she longed to get back to sleep, but she couldn't. She didn't want to see things like that again. It could have been a dream, but she doubted it. She tossed and turned restlessly for several minutes before throwing the cover off her legs and cautiously walking down the stairs, not wanting to wake anybody up. She glanced at the clock hanging up in the kitchen. 3:30 in the morning. Far too early to call the hospital and try to talk to Sarah. But far too late for there to be anything to do. She pondered her predicament. She wanted to get out of the house; it would do her racing heart and mind some good.

Karen wrote a letter for her husband and stuck it onto the refrigerator door. She did not want him or Toby to worry about where she was. She threw on a pair of pants and a shirt and raced to the car. Sighing, she threw the car into reverse, backed out of the driveway, and drove down the road looking for anywhere that was open.

Flashing neon signs assaulted her eyes as she drove into the city. What was open? Bar. Bar. Strip club. Bar. 24-hour drug store. Nowhere of interest, at least not for her. Sighing, she drove back to the house.

Before going back upstairs, she went to the ridge, grabbed the note, and balled it in her fist, throwing it into the garbage without so much as another thought. Karen had grown restless; it was true. But there was nothing to do! She paced around the kitchen for a time until that too, bored her. She went outside to stand on the porch. She rummaged through papers next to the wicker chair and under the table. After a while of searching, she finally found what she was looking for: an old package of cigarettes. She had long since given up the habit of smoking, but the moment was too tempting. She reached into her jacket pocket and took out a package of matches. Striking one, she lit up a slim cigarette and took a deep drag. It felt good to have the smoky pollution back in her body; it had been five years since her last smoke. She knew it was wrong, but it did not matter at the time.

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Jareth held his head in his hands. What had he done? Was this truly what he had wanted? He had heard Sarah's pleas against him doing...whatever it was that he was doing. But he would not rest until she was happy. Until the sweet revenge was over. Whether Sarah wanted it or not. He reflected upon himself. He had truly become a monster. He was so full of spite and he had no reason to be. But it didn't matter. He would do anything for his Sarah. He would mame, deceive, kill...It seemed like he was doing some of that already. But it mattered little. In the end all would be fine, from his perspective anyway.

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3:30 in the morning, and still she could not sleep. Sarah tossed and turned in the confinements of her sheets. She felt like there was something wrong, it was almost a gut feeling, but there was nothing she could do about it. Sighing, she got up and paced. She felt the urge to do something, anything. Even watching paint dry would have to be less worrisome and monotonous. Her little circle was becoming boring to walk. So, she threw open the door to her hospital room and headed down the empty hallways. Turning a corner, she spotted what she was looking for: Alicia's room. Ever so quietly, she opened the door a crack. Wide, moon shaped, staring eyes pierced through Sarah's gaze a foot away from the door frame. It looked like Alicia had been doing the same thing as Sarah, pacing boredly and waiting for something to happen.

"What the hell do you want?" Alicia's voice sounded odd, more raspy and low than her usually peppy and chipper tone. Sarah cocked her head in extreme confusion.

"Alicia...It's Sarah...What's wrong?" Sarah stared as Alicia walked over to where Sarah stood. Her actions and eyes seemed hollow, like there was no one there. In reply, Alicia's eyes narrowed to a snakelike gaze upon Sarah's face, before she fell to the floor. Sarah gasped and fell with her, hoping, praying that what had happened before had not happened yet again. "Alicia?" Sarah's voice was a hoarse whisper. Sarah stared at the girl before her. She seemed a lot thinner and a lot older, like all of the youth and been sucked from her.

After a while of kneeling by Alicia's side, her eyes fluttered open. "What - What happened?" Alicia asked, her eyes magnifying her confusion. She suddenly looked like a lost puppy dog...

"You fainted. Don't you remember?" Alicia shook her head. Sarah continued when Alicia closed her eyes again, but not to faint, only from being tired. "Why? Are they not treating you well here?" Alicia shook her head weakly.

"No. It's not that"- Cough. "It's just"- Cough. "Jareth..."Sarah suddenly stared at Alicia in horror.

"What? What about Jareth? He didn't try to hurt you, did he?" Alicia smiled sheepishly.

"No. But...he..." Alicia looked down at the ground. "He made me swear not to tell." Sarah's eyes widened.

"To tell what?"

Alicia shook her head. "Already I've said too much. Help me back to bed?" Sarah nodded and threw one of Alicia's arms around her shoulders, pulling her to an upright position.

"Um...Alicia. If you ever need to talk about stuff or something, you can call me, okay?" Alicia nodded and smiled, as she was set back into the bed.

"I know. Jareth was right about you." Sarah cocked her head. "You're very giving..." Sarah didn't even want to know what Jareth was referring to. She never remembered being "giving" towards him. Beating him? Humiliating him for he rest of his Goblin Kingdom to see? That didn't sound very giving to her... She shrugged.

"Okay...I'll see you later." Alicia nodded as Sarah shut the door with a bang.

"Is she gone yet?" A voice whispered from under the bed.

"Yes Jareth. She's gone. But be quiet! She's still in the hallway."

"God. I just...Don't know what to do." Jareth had never been one to tell his sob stories and need a shoulder to cry on, but Alicia was the closest friend to Sarah that he knew of. "I don't want to cause her harm. At all. But she makes it so... difficult! Why won't she just tell me what she wants?" Alicia shook her head. He continued. "I feel like what I'm doing for her is right, but I don't know if it's revenge she's after. Why won't she talk to me?"

"Be patient. She'll tell you in time." There wasn't much for her to say. The Goblin King seemed kind enough, but from Sarah's point of view, he had done some pretty rotten things to her and those around him in the past.

"And what of that Daniel boy! I can't be here all of the time, but they seem rather... friendly..." Alicia laughed.

"Daniel and Sarah? Please! That's all that they are! Friends. Sarah thinks very high of you. I know it. She knows it. I bet even Daniel knows she has someone already. So don't worry. It'll all be fine." Jareth smiled at Alicia's reassuring words.

"Thanks." Jareth stared down at the ground. "Well. I must be off. Have places to go, things to see, 'stuff' to do (as you mortals would say)." Alicia laughed at his words.

Jareth winked at her and, in a puff of blue glitter, disappeared into the night.

Sarah blinked awake to the squinting sunlight coming through the plastic blinds to her room. She sat upright, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and glanced at the alarm clock. 12:45. She had been more tired than she thought. A pecking at the window caught her by surprise. Pulling the blinds upward, she saw a beautifully white owl perched on a tree branch outside the window. Smiling, Sarah opened the window and it perched on her arm.

"Hello, Jareth." She said to it quietly, kissing the feathers atop its head. In response it bit her earlobe affectionately. The bite turned into a caress of a mouth; the bird once perched on her shoulder transformed into a man with wild blonde hair and different coloured eyes.

"Hello, love." His rich accent filled the air.

"Just dropping in on me?" Sarah asked. Jareth didn't answer, but picked her up and brought them both sitting to the bed, her legs thrown over his lap. She laughed like a happy schoolgirl, resting her head on his chest. "Haven't seen you in a while." She stated quietly. "Were you busy?" On the outside she may have been acting flirtatious and cute, but on the inside she was trying to piece together the puzzle that was Jareth.

Jareth kissed her gently on the mouth. "Yes. Very very busy." He whispered into her neck. She giggled as he laid her down on the bed, placing himself above her. He kissed her on the lips yet again and laid down beside her, twirling a piece of her hair between a leather clad finger. The pair smiled at each other for quite some time.

_I wonder if she knows what's going on. She is, after all, quite perceptive... _

_I wonder if he knows that I'm trying to figure out what's going on. God I hope not... _

Both of their thoughts were dashed when a throat being cleared sliced through the air. "Um...Hi. Am I interrupting anything?" Daniel asked awkwardly from the doorway. Sarah blushed madly at Jareth before turning to face the man at the doorway.

"No! Not at all. Hi." Jareth cleared his throat, somewhat annoyed with how quickly her attention could be turned.

"Right! Um, Daniel, this is Jareth. Jareth, this is Daniel." Sarah smiled, a slight blush still gracing her cheeks. "Now you both acquainted. Congratulations." The girl's face almost turned crimson.

Daniel nodded slightly. "So...he's your boyfriend then?" Sarah smiled in return. "You never told me you had a boyfriend." He stated.

"I didn't?"

"You didn't?" Jareth cut in. Why hadn't she let her friend know who he was? Jareth moved his mouth to her ear. "And why not?" He whispered.

"It never came up!" The situation for Sarah was getting more and more awkward by the second.

"So. Sarah. Notice anything different?" Daniel wanted to change the subject. Sarah looked him over.

"You're not in the wheelchair anymore!" She smiled up at him. "Didn't realize how tall you were..." She laughed. Daniel's pointed canines showed when he smiled.

"People have said that a lot to me lately. I'm gettin out soon..." Sarah's eyes lit up.

"Lucky! I'm stuck in here for...I dunno how long." She sighed. Jareth cleared his throat.

"Sarah." His voice sounded like he should not be trifled with. Sarah looked at him pleadingly, but upon realizing his mind would not be changed, she turned to Daniel.

"Daniel, I'll talk to you later, okay?" Daniel plastered a fake smile on.

"Sarah, could I talk to you for a second?" Daniel asked.

"Um...sure," Sarah replied, wondering what he could possibly need to talk about now.

Once out of Jareth's keen earshot, Daniel pulled her aside by the wrist.

"You're really going out with him?" He asked.

"Yeah. Why? What's wrong with it?" Daniel looked down at the ground.

"It's just that he doesn't seem like the right guy for you." Sarah stared at him in disbelief.

"Why ever not, Daniel? Are you jealous?" She asked with a glint in her eye.

"What? No!" He managed to stutter. "He just seems kind of...demanding. You had to look at him just for approval to talk to me!"

"Well, he's needy. I haven't seen him for almost four years and he doesn't know if I love him or not." Daniel stared blankly. "It's a long story, please don't ask. But he thinks that you know me better than he does. And he hates that!" Daniel leaned against the wall.

"So, maybe he just wants you to trust him more."

"What?"

"Well, it sounds like he thinks that you like everyone more than him. If he sees that you trust him more, maybe he'd ease up on his grasp." Daniel stated his thoughts proudly.

Sarah smiled up at him. "Thanks, Daniel. Maybe you're right! Talk to you soon, okay?" Daniel's eyes warmed at her words. Quickly and silently, the girl stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Smiling, she turned and went back to her room.

Unknown to them, a spiteful Goblin King watched the ordeal unfold, seething at the thought of Sarah, his Sarah show any other man that warmth.


	20. Jealousy

Yay! Chapter! W00t w00t w00t w00t! This is my birthday present to myself, because my birthday is in about a week and I probably won't get to update this thing by then. But guess who else's birthday is today, the day of my updation? None other than the one…the only…PETE FUCKING TOWNSEND! EVERYONE GIVE PETEY A ROUND OF APPLAUSE! Who cares if he had sex with a 15 year old, got arrested for putting kiddie porn on his computer, and has a really big Roman nose? Not. Me. This chapter is dedicated to Miss Saffy, just because she is cool like that. She gets brownie points. And so does Petey.

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Jareth stormed back to Sarah's room before she noticed he had gone. His thoughts were angry swirls of hate, merely because some boy tried to give her advice on how to treat him! The nerve! Jareth certainly wasn't about to admit that what Daniel had said was true, but deep down, he knew. Sarah came into the room moments later.

"Jareth? What's wrong?" She asked, seeing dark storm clouds passing over his mysterious eyes.

"Nothing." He said tensely. Sarah went over to sit back on the hospital bed with him. She attempted to put a gentle hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged out of it. "I must be off." He said stiffly. Without any more explanation, the Goblin King disappeared.

"That was odd..." Sarah grumbled under her breath. Sarah knew well that something was wrong, and part of her wanted to make it better. _Part_ of her loved him. And part of her always would. She hadn't noticed how needy and demanding Jareth was until Daniel had brought it up. There was something about Daniel...He seemed so familiar, yet so distant. She wanted to get to know him better. And the thought of this scared her beyond belief.

She needed to make up her mind. She loved Jareth, or at least she thought she did. He had been there for her when times were tough, so why couldn't she be there for him this time around. The answer was simple. At least in Sarah's mind. Sarah had never been so angry about something or ate it with so much passion. She hadn't ruined thousands of lives in the past. The glamour of having the Goblin King love her was fading, and she needed someone new...even if that meant not getting rid of the latter. It had taken her several minutes of deliberation, but she had made her choice. Quickly, she threw on a shirt and a long skirt.

"Daniel! Daniel!" She called after the shrinking silhouette of a man. Upon hearing his name, he stopped and turned.

"Sarah?" He said, when she had at last run up to re-greet him. "I know you said you'd talk to me soon, but I didn't think you meant in five minutes!" Sarah giggled.

"Daniel? I've been thinking about some stuff..." She said timidly, kicking imaginary dusted with the heel of her shoe. She couldn't look him n the eye, at least not yet. "You were right. Jareth is really controlling and needy. I want to be able to trust him, but it's just so damn hard! He's done so much shit to me and my family that some scars just won't be able to heal. But I want to make them better. And as much as it kills me to say this, Jareth's not the answer." Daniel stared at her, obviously confused. Sarah continued like she didn't notice. "You are." She finally met his gaze and attempted to smile.

Daniel stood there with his mouth agape. "What exactly are ya tryin to say?" He asked, his Brooklyn accent shining.

Sarah took in a big breath. This was it. Now she knew why it was hard for a guy to ask a girl out. "Will you go out with me?" She said in one breath. Daniel was flabbergasted. He liked Sarah, but he never would have guessed she felt the same way.

Thoughts raced through Daniel's head. He wanted to be with her more than ever, especially since she was throwing herself at him, but what of Jareth? He seemed like the type of guy that if broken up with, he'd either kill something or be in manic depression for the rest of his life. Two things that Daniel wanted no part in. "Um...what about Jareth?" He asked uncertainly.

Sarah laughed as if the answer to the question was obvious. She threw her arms around his neck, creating very little to no space between them. "Who says he has to know?" She laughed more. Daniel stopped seeing the cute little girl that he had taken a liking to, and began thinking of Sarah has a naughty plaything that was slightly psychotic.

"In that case, I don't see why not..." Daniel's voice drifted off in a somewhat dreamy state. A wide smile graced Sarah's lips.

"Good. I'll talk to you later, okay? I've got some stuff I gotta do." Daniel didn't ask questions. He nodded simply and watched as his girl ran back down the hallway.

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Jareth knew something was going on. He felt like he should have been spying on Sarah at this point. He didn't trust her. Not at all. She wasn't aware of how pretty she was, or how just the sight of her could drive many a man mad. She wasn't aware that she had done so already. But he knew that these things were the reasons she didn't trust him. He got a better idea.

After several long hours of awaiting the darkness, Jareth created an orb an observed the girl as she climbed into bed and turned out the lights. Then he waited some more, just to make sure she was truly asleep. He hadn't ever done something this drastic before; he had never had the need to. But desperate times called for desperate measures. He stood up and concentrated hard. He had transformed into an owl many a time, thought that was his other form. He hoped, prayed, that it might work in this way as well. He stood there, all thoughts on what he wanted to happen, and then it did. He smashed a crystal at the wall, where it transformed into a mirror. And reflected back, instead of the Goblin King, was Daniel.

His plan was simple, all he needed to do was go into Sarah's dreams in that form, and wait to see what happened. Jareth knew for a fact there was something between Daniel and the girl, he had even tried to get Alicia to spy on them together and see what happened, but nothing had ever been reported. He wanted his assumptions to be false. He wanted to know that he was just being paranoid. The problem was, he wasn't sure that it was only paranoia, but fact as well.

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Yes. This chapter is done. It ish a cliffeh hanger. And very short. I'm also changing my rules, because it's my birthday and encouragement and constructive criticism is fun. Gonna need at least five reviews until I update. Five. And if you wish me a happy birthday, _you too_ can get brownie points...

So hit that button.

You know you want to


	21. Plot Twist!

Damn. I am soo pissed off right now. I typed the entire chapter for this, and then my aunt goes and deletes it from her computer. So, I am forced to retype it, which sucks because the original was uber good, if I do say so myself.

Anyway. 49 reviews now. Not too shabby! One away from fifty…which is half a hundred. WOO!

Now to answer some of these oh so lovely reviews. First off, **draegon-fire**: It's quite good to know that while yes, I'm not as old as many of my readers, you're all still enjoying it.

**Saffy**: YAY. Wait a minute. What sort of images? Are they what I think they might be? If so, I have one thing to say: You pervert. You sicken me with your perverse thoughts. –sticks nose in air and walks away- -trips over chair-

**Lady Alira**: WOO! I GET SINGING GOBLINS! Are they all tone deaf? What are they going to sing? Can they sing "Funky Town"? Do they take requests! That'd be truly awesome…

Last but _certainly_ not least, **DAsDesiredRose**: Yes. Ain't it grand that I get a broken lap top from some asshole who sold it on EBay (even thought he engraved his freakin name into the front) that no longer has a charger and you don't? What a shame. Also, Yeah…I know that there's no chance that an _actual_ mental institution would allow patients to roam the hallways…but if I didn't let that happen in da story, it'd be very hard to get each character to interact with each other, wouldn't it?

This chapter is 100 dedicated to DAsDesiredRose because if she didn't review a billion times, this chapter would be NONEXISTANT! So, because of good ole' DAsDesiredRose, here be the next chappie. Enjoy and review!

Oh yeah, and because I promised, Lady Alira, Miss Saffy, and notwritten all get double brownie points for wishing me a happy birthday. DAsDesiredRose gets some too because she reviewed a bunch. The rest of you get poop squat. My humblest of apologies.

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Jareth was in a place that was new to him. Whenever Sarah dreamed, it usually took place somewhere in the Goblin Kingdom. But here, metal monsters whizzed across the street, commanded by different colored lights at every corner. Here, people pushed and shoved against the bustle of the activity on the sidewalk. It was all so strange to him, so foreign.

Sighing, Jareth tried to cross the busy intersection. He started walking, but the monsters screamed as they went passed him, he briskly went back to the pavement. After a while of waiting, the lights changed. He observed how as the lights towards the streets turned red, the monsters stopped moving. The light towards him turned green, and the people around him crossed the intersection. As he watched the people cross, he spotted something he had not seen before: a small café. There were chairs and tables with large umbrellas on the corner of the street. Some people crowded around each table, either drinking coffee or gossiping to whoever it was that surrounded them. Several people had large newspapers covering their faces. Jareth stared as one of the patrons of the café put the paper down to sip at her coffee. He hadn't pictured Sarah as the type of girl who would want to hear about what was going on in the world. She didn't strike her as the type who'd read The New York Times. But then again, she had proven him wrong many a time before. Her eyes were masked in large black sunglasses, and her hair whipped around her face from the city wind.

Jareth casually leaned against the street lamp on the corner of the road, waiting for the light to change yet again. When it did, he began walking across the street, glad that the monsters hadn't shrieked as they had before. At long last, he was at the other side of the wide street. He glanced around to find Sarah's table again, and pulled up a seat next to her.

"Hello." He said, but the voice that came out of his throat wasn't his own.

"HI, Daniel! What are you doing here? I didn't expect to see you!" Jareth's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He had forgotten who he was masking himself to be! He quickly got up and swung the chair around, now leaning his arms against the back, staring intently at Sarah. He had observed Daniel's mannerisms, but he had never thought they would come in handy.

"Just kind of…dropping by…" Jareth said unsurely.

"Oh." Something in Sarah's voice sounded off, disappointed, almost.

"I wanted to check on you, is all. You seemed distracted today."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Did I?" Jareth nodded.

"Why were you?"

"Just thinking about stuff…" Jareth wanted so badly to know what kind of 'stuff' she was talking about.

"You mean like you and Jareth?" His guess was like stabbing blindly into the night with a pitchfork.

"How did you know? Are you psychic?"

"Maybe," Jareth tried to smile lightly.

"That would explain it then. Because you were right." Jareth was going to prompt her to enlighten him more on the subject, but she continued on her own. "It's just…I've known Jareth for a long time. I knew since the moment e met that he loved me, and he told me at least twice. But I was young…and stupid. Now I've come to realize I kind of feel the same way. Yet he's too damn over protective! I need someone who isn't going to worry every time that I share a smile with someone else!"

"Okay…" Jareth chose his next words carefully, "So what's with the attraction towards me?" He asked uncertainly.

"Well, you're one of the only other guys who's shone me an ounce of care, well, besides my father. But he doesn't count. You proved that you could really be right for me." Sarah laughed, pulling her windswept hair into a pony tail.

"But what about Jareth? I thought you said that you felt that way about him?"

Behind her dark glasses, Sarah rolled her eyes. "I do, but he's so needy! I told you that already." Sarah propped her sunglasses on the top of her head. "Look, can we not talk about this anymore? It confuses me even more than I already am confused!"

Jareth nodded. "Sure, I have to go anyway. Got places to go, people to see. I'll see you around, okay?" Sarah smiled.

"Of course."

The last sight of the Dream – Sarah that Jareth saw of her, she was blowing him a kiss.

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Jareth screamed in rage when he left Sarah's dream. How could she betray him like that? She had told him that she loved him, but she hadn't meant it, had she?

A small rapping at the door took Jareth by surprise. "Jareth?" the dwarf cleared his throat.

"What is it, Hedge Hog?"

"It's Hoggle. And you have a visitor. Should I send him in?"

"Fine. Show him in and leave me in peace." Hoggle nodded and left the room. Moments later, a tall man with dark brown hair strode into the throne room. He looked like he could have been some sort of knight, but something about him seemed off.

"Jareth." The man greeted the Goblin King coldly. There was something about that voice… "I presume I need no introduction." That was when Jareth caught a glimpse of the man's eyes. They were two different colors.

"Daniel?" The man merely nodded. "What are you doing here? How do you who I am?"

Daniel scoffed. "I'm surprised you didn't recognize me. I knew who you were the moment I laid eyes on you. All these years and you don't even recognize your own kin?"

"What do you mean by 'kin'?" Daniel let out a fake laugh.

"And you don't even remember! Several hundred years ago, a goblin family came to you for help. You accepted, because you were such a 'caring man', as Sarah might say. You took me in as you own flesh and blood, _and you don't even remember!" _Jareth's jaw dropped.

"Darrius?" Jareth asked in shock.

"Yes, _Father_, and I use that term lightly, by the way. But call me Daniel, I've grown more accustomed to it." There was a glimmer in his eye. "And Sarah has as well."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jareth asked, taking an offensive tone.

"She doesn't care for you anymore, _Dad_. She's found someone else. Someone who'll stop treating her like a child and start treating her like that adult woman that she is!"

Jareth couldn't believe his ears. His own son was taking the love of his life away from him? Impossible!

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Impossible? I THINK NOT! Woooo! I love myself a good twist! Remember, five reviews for new chapter. No less. Deal with it.

So hit da pretty button. Daniel tells you to.

Plus, it's shiiiiiiiny! So click it, you little magpies!


	22. I'm too Lazy to think of a Chap Name

Holy shit! That was fast… Five reviews in barely 24 hours. So, I'll be nice and give you another chapter. And I'm glad y'all liked the plot twist Except for HanyouRiyumi. All I have to say is don't worry, I'll try to give this thing a happy ending. It's just that I get sick of all those puff pieces out there! I wanted this to not be so "And then they all lived happily ever after! Yay!" The twist was unexpected when I was writing it, but I'm glad it's getting mostly positive feedback.

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Sarah awoke to an odd feeling. She felt like her thoughts had been battling with themselves since her dream had ended. Sure, Daniel was nice and understanding, but he was no Jareth. Sighing, she stretched and yawned, hoping that today would be less confusing than her dream was.

The girl paced around her room. She glanced at the clock. 11:59. One minute until visiting hours. Half of her hated the way she feeled. The other half wished she didn't have to expose her secret. But she knew it was something she had to do. But Jareth was perceptive enough to figure it out on his own, and she knew it. He would rather hear it from her than not at all. Sometimes the pain of simply not knowing was enough to drive a person mad.

The clock finally struck noon.

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Jareth paced in his Study. His visitor had indeed disturbed him beyond belief. How could that have been Darius? He was nothing but a small child last time he was seen! Sighing, he slumped back in his throne. He looked at the mortal clock which hung on the wall, next to the one which told time in the Goblin Kingdom. It was just 12:00. His thoughts battled each other to no end. He would have loved to see Sarah right now, but that wouldn't be taking into consideration what Sarah had told him. She wanted someone who wouldn't baby her, wouldn't obsess.

He tried to go with what she said. But today, some rules were meant to be broken. He felt like she needed him now more than ever.

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Where was he? It was one thirty, and still no sign of Jareth. She prayed Daniel wouldn't show up, it would only confuse her more. But of course, fate frowned upon her.

"Can I come in?" Daniel's voice came from the hallway.

"Not right now, Daniel. I need to think."

"About what?" He pushed.

Sarah tried not to let her aggravation show, but that was hard to do through clenched teeth. "Stuff. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Daniel nodded even though he knew Sarah couldn't see him. "Sure. Um, I guess I'll see you later then." The door creaked closed again, and Sarah was alone, for a few minutes. A soft tapping came from the window. Sarah couldn't help but smile. Opening the window, she allowed Jareth to fly into the room and perch on the bed, quickly transforming back into himself.

"Haven't seen you in a while," She commented. "I got worried."

"No you didn't. But the thought of it is nice," Jareth replied. He knew Sarah was not the type to say things straight forwardly, so he was alarmed at the rapid speed in her voice as she spilled her thoughts.

"I've been thinking," She started. Jareth had a feeling this wasn't about to end well.

"What about?"

"Just stuff." Sarah gulped a breath of stale, hospital air. She didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, _especially _Jareth, but she felt he had a right to know how she felt. She opened her mouth to speak again, but swallowed her words. It was almost as if they were lodged in her throat, unable to come out without the right prompting. But waiting for the prompting took too long. "I can't do this anymore. I suck at keeping a poker face, you of all people should know that!" Jareth could only nod. He should have known that this eruption would have happened some time or another. Taking another shaky breath, she tried to continue on, but Jareth put a leather clad finger to her lips.

"Love, I already know what you're going to say." He said, eyes cast towards the ground.

She stared at him reproachfully. "You do?"

He smiled sadly. "I do." Sarah sighed a breath of relief. She wasn't ready to tell him that she felt better around Daniel than she did with Jareth; it was easier if he knew it on his own time. "And I understand if you don't wish to see me anymore." Sarah's eyes opened in shock.

"You do?" She repeated.

Jareth murmured his agreement. "Yes." Jareth truly hoped that good old' reverse psychology would do the trick. "I know you need someone who won't baby you and treat you like a child. And I know I've been doing just that…" His voice trailed off. Internally, Jareth was applauding himself on his acting skills.

Ear pressed up behind the closed door, Daniel cursed.

Jareth continued on, trying to sound as serious as possible. "I know I don't deserve a second chance, but maybe…?" His question did not need to be finished, for Sarah rapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Jareth hadn't had time to brace himself, so he fell to a recline on the bed.

Sarah couldn't help but beam. "You really _did_ know what I was going to say, didn't you?" Jareth tucked a finger under her chin and gave her a small kiss. "Well, I suppose everyone deserves a second chance…" She sighed.

Jareth grinned. "Well then, I must be off." He sprung up from the bed with an unusual amount of joy in his stride. "I'll see you later, yes?" Sarah nodded dutifully, and Jareth flew out the opened window.

……………………..

There. End of chapter. I am aware that it is terribly short, but I'm about to be kicked off the computer. Oh! This is probably a stupid non-Labyrinth related quesiton, but who cares. I just bought Bowe's album _Outside_, and there's this whole story going on within it about Nathan Adler trying to figure out who murdered Baby Grace Blue. In the cover art booklet, there's part of Adler's story. But then it says TO BE CONTINUED! So, my question is, does anyone know _what_ album, if any, this was indeed continued on to? Because I want to find out who dun it!

But anyway, five reviews. And possibly an answer to my question, please?


	23. The Meaning of Pain

There was no escape from the noises.

Words buzzed in her ears, but she could never quite make out what they were saying. Colors swirled around her eyes, blurs of pink and royal ble. She stepped lightly, afraid that her footsteps fell too heavily, she would break the bubble like dream she was creeping around in. As she progressed, it felt like a large weight was being pressed down on her shoulders. The colors around her began swarming like angry bees, going from light, happy tones to crimson and gray.

Sarah was getting a little frightenened, though she tried not to let it get to her. But she felt her knees buckling underneath her, as if the weight of the world was colliding with her spine. She fell to her knees and began to crawl.

The girl wasn't sure _what_ she was moving towards, but she knew it had to be worthwhile to continue. However, something was holding her back. She looked back at her feet to see that they were stuck to the ground. What once felt like nothing beneath her was now razor sharp, cutting into her knees. She struggled to move, to free herself, but it only hurt worse. She looked helplessly upwards. A dim light was beginning to emanate from the far end of the jagged bubble. All Sarah knew was that she had to get there. Somehow, that light equaled life. Sarah struggled to sit up, though her palms had a fine sheen of red to them, and tre her feet from the rough ground. She winced and tried to bite back a scream of pain, but continued on all the same.

Each step was a battle, but eventually it was won. There was nothing there but a small crystal orb. Immediately she could tell it was not one of Jareth's, for it was oblong and clouded. Sarah picked it up, though it was as heavy as a concrete block. Colors similar to the ones around her swirled within the orb. She could tell that something was trying to break through the fog in it, but it was barely visible. "Sarah," A voice echoed. It sounded familiar. She swung around in attempt to find the voice, for it was the first solid one she had heard all night, but she knew it was coming from the crystal. She strained to hear its voice as hard as she could.

"Sarah," It called. "You know he was lying." Sarah shook her head.

"Who? What?"

"You know who and what. And you know he didn't mean it." Sarah's eyes widened. She knew deep down the voice was right, but she didn't want it to be. She wanted ot be abe to find what she needed in Jareth, not someone else. She knew why she wanted Daniel, because he was everything Jareth wasn't. But if Jareth somehow changed, she figured there was hope.

She shook her head, trying to talk herself into believing she was right. "No. He has changed. I won't need to see Daniel anymore because he has changed." Suddenly, the floor seemed to sharpen itself and began stabbing into the soles of her feet. Her body felt like it was being squeezed into nothing, like she was being flattened like a penny on a railroad.

She wanted so badly to wake up, but her eyelids wouldn't budge. It was as if they were glued shut.

"Why can't I wake up?" She asked the voice.

"It would be a better idea if you didn't."

"But I want to."

"You shouldn't."

"Why?"

"You might be surprised what you see." But Sarah didn't care. She had used the time she talked to work them open.

The calm voice had been more than correct. At first she thought it was her eyes, but she knew it wasn't. The sheets and floor beneath them were comepletely blood soaked. The metalic stench wafted through the air like a lazy breeze. But it sickened her.

She attempted to peel back the sheets, but it stung too much. She got a small look at what was beneath, but it was unbearable to look at. Her knees and the palms of her hands might as well have been finely ground hamburger. She felt the need to vomit, but quicly pushed the button for the nurse instead. Surely she'd know what to do…

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Weee! That was short! I mean, really short. I didn't have enough time to write it. I plan on making the next chapter a lot longer to make up for it, though. I'm getting booted offline, so this was all I had time to do. So this was just a little something to keep y'all here. You know the drill. Five reviews. Hit the button at the beep.

Beeeeeep!


	24. With My Apologies

I am really sorry that last chapter was so short. I figured it'd be better to start a new chapter where I left it than pick it up from there. I also see it confused some people. Hop this chapter clears it up a bit. That might have been one of the shortest chapters I've ever written, and I'm extremely sorry about it...

Terribly sorry to GaibsGirl. I just kinda felt the need to write it. Plus it went well with what was going to happen in this chapter

Draegon-fire: and maybe she will...

Lady of the Labyrinth: Well, I make up for it with very long chapter. Enjoy.

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Sarah held up a hand in front of her. She couldn't believe it was her own. It was covered in bandages. The doctors had needed ten stitches just to fix that palm. Her knees and feet had suffered ten times worse, the doctors said she would not be able to bend her knees, let alone walk, for a while.

The doctors had decided that the odd openings in her flesh had been a reaction to her medication, but she knew they knew it couldn't have been. It was their only answer to what could have really happened. They knew that she could not have done that much damage to herself; at least not in the little time she had to do it. She had been moved out of the ward she was in into the emergency room. Sarah counted on her scarring fingers: this was the third ward she had been in five months.

The nurse that had taken Sarah's call later told her she had passed out from blood loss by the time she was taken to the emergency room.

Sarah was too absorbed in her thoughts to notice the knock on the door to her new room. It slowly creaked open and the nurse that had found her cleared her throat.

"Sarah?" She called, "You have a visitor." With that, the door was shut, and what looked like a giant blue blob entered the room.

"They said you were still unstable," Sarah's father's voice came from the blob. "They had me wear protective clothing so I wouldn't get you sick." He pulled down the blue surgical mask that was over his mouth. "They called me as soon as they found you." Sarah smiled glad to finally see an honest face.

"Daddy," Sarah said, "I'm glad you came," She couldn't help but smile sadly.

"Why wouldn't I?" You're my only daughter," He said, kissing her on the forehead.

"How's Toby?"

"Toby's fine. He missed you a lot. He's home with Karen. She hasn't been wanting Toby to see this type of environment. I guess it's something that she doesn't want him getting used to."

Sarah shrugged. "I suppose that makes sense. How's Karen?" She asked this only to be polite; she really could have cared less.

"She's not doing so well. She's been waking up at all hours of the night, talking about nightmares... Something about lots of walls and Toby being stolen. Oh well, it was only a nightmare. So besides that, she's fine." But Sarah wasn't so sure. She recalled the dream she had had several months ago, when Karen had rambled on about something to the same extent, only it killed her.

Sarah tried not to let the odd coincidence bug her.

Sarah's visit with her father came and went, but she quickly found she missed the company. She was so used to having either Daniel or Jareth pestering her, she found it near impossible to entertain herself. Alicia wasn't being allowed to see her because the doctors were afraid she would hurt Sarah, or herself. Sarah was glad to know that no matter how bad she had it, someone else always seemed to have it far worse.

_The girl knew that it was more than a bad idea to fall asleep, she didn't want a repeat the night before, yet she quickly found her boredom lulling her to bed, and her eyes quickly slid shut._

_Her dreams were nothing like she thought they'd be. At first she was nowhere, just floating peacefully in space like she had not a care in the world. Then, slowly, a picture began to take shape, like slow bleeding watercolors. She was in the heart of the labyrinth, but she did not feel as if she was racing against anything. She had complete control. She heard far away scurrying footsteps. She wished to pay them no mind, but they grew quicker and louder. By the time she turned around, Hoggle was nose to nose with her._

"_Hoggle!" She cried, hugging her friend close to her. Stunned, he did not push away like she thought he would, but hugged back instead._

"_He said you was in trouble," Sarah didn't need to ask who the 'he' was. "He said yous was hurt, but we couldn't see you in person. So I settled for in here!" Hoggle said brightly._

"_Where is he?" Sarah wondered aloud._

"_Very nice, Sarah. I haven't seen you in _forever_ and the first thing you ask is where my King is. Very nice, indeed."_

_Sarah rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I would just like to know. But then I can spend my entire dream with you, okay?" She proposed. Hoggle's face brightened considerably._

"_Okay!" His voice turned quiet as quickly as it had expanded. "He said he didn't want to see you for a while. He's afraid he'd get too mad."_

"_Get too mad at what?" Hoggle covered his mouth._

"_Um... Nothing. Nothing, I says too much already," Sarah raised an eyebrow, but didn't question further._

"_Well, I don't care. I'll see him later." She smiled down at Hoggle. "But not now," She said, seeing Hoggle's upset expression. "How've you been?"_

_Pretty good. Killed mor'n a hundred fairies yesterday. They seem to be acing up, for some reason" Sarah nodded._

"_That's weird. How are Ludo and Didymus?" She was quick to change the subject. She hadn't been a fan of fairies since one bit her three years ago. It had hurt!_

"_Well, Didymus has been re-hired by Jareth as his personal guard. He's been real good at keepin out intruders. As for Ludo, he's been workin on that speech of his. He's still not gettin the concept of full sentences, but he's getting better. But besides the occasional outbursts from the castle, nothing else is going on."_

_Sarah and Hoggle continued talking through most of Sarah's dream, but eventually Sarah knew it had come to the time she half longed for, half dreaded._

"_Hoggle, I have to go. It's almost time." Hoggle knew what she meant, he knew she felt she had to see him, and he knew that she was border line awake, but part of him wished to keep his first friend with him forever, as if he'd never see her again._

"_Do ya really have to?"_

"_Bye, Hoggle," Sarah laughed. She kissed his forehead and make her way back to the castle. She was greeted at the gates by none other than Sir Didymus. "Didymus!" She called to him. The little fox's eyes widened._

"_Lady Sarah? Is it really you?" He asked in bewilderment. Sarah smiled and the fox ran into her arms. He quickly recomposed himself, however, and stood back up, sweeping into a low bow. "My lady," he whispered, taking of his hat and bringing it to his chest with an extravagant hand gesture._

"_Noble night," She curtsied._

_Didymus smiled. "What brings you to the castle? As you can see I've been made chief of security!" He said with a flourish, puffing out his chest._

"_So I've heard," Sarah replied. She could see how proud Didymus was of himself, "And I've come to see Jareth," Didymus's mouth dropped to the groundin shock._

"_But I thought you and the King were not in terms! He took your brother!" He reminded her._

"_Yes, I know," She grinned and ruffled the hair atop Didymus's furry head. "But that was three years ago. We've grown to look past that," She said quietly. Didymus took one look at her face and shook his head, making tutting noises with his tongue._

"_He has instructed me not to let anyone in. But I suppose he'd make an exception for you." Sir Didymus smiled and moved aside, letting the gates to theCastle swing open._

"_Thank you, Didymus!" Sarah called over her shoulder as she entered._

_The castle was exactly the same as it had been last time she was there, except slightly messier. She wondered who had been sent to the Bog._

_She climbed the steps to Jareth's throne room. She wasn't sure how she had known the way, for she had always started her dreams there in the first place. But she guessed that she was moving in the right direction and continued moving up the cold stone steps._

_She was almost out of breath by the time she reached the tower that held Jareth's throne room. She pushed pen the door just enough to see Jareth sitting on his throne, head in hands. He looked more distraught than she had ever seen him. It worried her. She pushed the door open more and leaned against the doorway._

"_What's wrong with you?" She asked, just loud enough for him to hear._

"_What are you doing here?" Jareth looked up, startled. He walked towards her with vengeance in his eyes, but it was vengeance that wasn't meant for her. "You shouldn't be here."_

"_And why not? It's my dream." Sarah pouted stubbornly. Jareth rolled his eyes._

"_It would have been best if you stayed with Hoggle and the others. Why do you think they were there to greet you? I need some time to be alone."_

_Sarah's brow furrowed. "Someone's PMSing," she joked under her breath, "But why?"_

_Suddenly, her feet began to hurt as much as they had the night before, like tiny, yet thick, pins were slowly being inserted under her skin. Her head felt unbearably woozy. She looked down and saw a small puddle of blood beneath her feet. Before she could hear Jareth's answer, she collapsed._

"_...Sarah?" Jareth's echoey voice filled her brain. She opened her eyes slowly, only to see that she wan in unfamiliar surroundings._

"_Where am I?" She asked wearily._

"_The infirmary here at the castle."_

"_What happened?"_

"_We're not sure. The doctor just left." Jareth looked pained to see her like that. He looked like he wanted to sweep her away and protect her from whatever was affecting her so much. "You've been asleep for awhile."_

_Sarah lifted her hand out to him. She couldn't help but notice how shaky and frail it looked. "Jareth?" Se spoke quietly. He was so far away from her, and she didn't know why. She longed for his touch, for it to let her know that everything was okay._

_He shook his head and took a step backwards. "Don't make this difficult. I can't, and you know it." Sarah's eyes widened, first in sorrow, then in anger, then disbelief._

"_Why not? What don't I know?" She demanded. Jareth pretended to be interested in a scuff in his boot._

"_Something has happened," he tried to say it as nonchalantly as possible, but Sarah saw through the façade easily. "I cannot come near you." His face betrayed his attitude. It looked like he had been in as much pain as she._

"_What? Why I need you to be here! I thought this was the only safe place for me to see you. You said it was safe!" She accused while trying to hold backbitter tears._

_The Goblin King only showed his soft side to Sarah, and now the rough mask he had been wearing for the time she had been asleep melted off like ice cream on a warm summer's day. "I know, love. But I think I was wrong. Unless..." His voice drifted off._

"_Unless what?"_

_Jareth closed his eyes. "You have to wake up. Where your body is you've only been asleep for several hours. The damage will be much worse if you don't wake up now._

"_Damage? What damage?" Jareth shook his head again._

"_I love you," he whispered and turned heel, leaving her alone with her thoughts._

_Sarah knew that Jareth meant what he said, and was not exaggerating. Perhaps this was what scared her most, but because of this, she willed herself toawaken._

The girl awoke to a blinding headache. She recalled her sleep and peeled back the sheets. She looked at the bandages on her feet, and was glad to see that the dressing on them weren't soaked in blood, on the contrary. The looked about the same as they had when she had slumbered, but now with an occasional fleck of blood here or there. She sighed, more than relieved, and took to string out the window. There was a white bird perched on the sill with a leaf in its mouth.

----------

"Take it back, Darius."

"My my, father. You seem upset. Take what back?" He asked innocently.

"You know what. If you love her, you shouldn't be causing her pain." Darius grinned wickedly.

"But Father, I'm not the one that's causing her pain. If I recall, she was only hurt when _you_ were near her." Darius smiled cockily, but Jareth wasn't in the mood for mind games.

"I know you've done something to her. It might be wise to confess before I do anything irrational."

"Confess?" Darius barked out laughter. "To what? Besides, what could you do? If you get rid of me, you get rid of her."

Jareth's eyes narrowed angrily. "Who said anything about getting _rid_ of you?" Jareth imagined shackles in the deepest, darkest oubliette he could find, near the Bog, if possible. His eyes pierced through his son's; if looks could kill, Darius would have been mummified and tucked away by now. "Fix what you've done, or there will be consequences," Jareth growled, and with a flick of his wrist, sent Darius back Aboveground to the hospital, hopefully to un-do what he did.

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There you have it, folks. I really hope this chapter was long enough to quench everyone's anticipation, and to clear some things up. Now, review! Or it's straight into that oubliette that was mentioned in that last paragraph.

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	25. Sweet Revenge

I hate my computer. I really fcking hate my computer. I had this thing all typed and printed so I could retype it at my aunt's house, and then stupid Open Office crashes. And now the file on the hard drive disappeared. So whenever I click on an Open Office word document, it's all "Oh noses! Computer can't seem to find Open Office on the hard drive! Fiddle sticks for you!" So, I re-did it the best I could.

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Darius did indeed go back Aboveground. He went because he was told to. He went because he wanted to. He went because he wanted nothing more than to violate what was precious to his rival. He checked his watch for the time. It was well after two in the afternoon, so he figured it was time to see her. He could already tell how the girl's emotions worked. If she couldn't find comfort in one thing, she would find it in something else.

He briskly walked up the steps to the hospital and entered it's gift shop. Daniel walked to the counter, where he paid $5.33 for a small bouquet of flowers. He walked up the stairs, for he had no longer "needed" the wheelchair he was once in, even though he never really needed it in the first place. It had been a ruse, but no one knew that.

He waltzed up to Sarah's door in no time and rapped on the door. He heard Sarah's cough and then a feeble "Come in!"

Her face looked at ease when he first saw her, but her eyebrows knitted as he walked closer.

"I thought the colors might cheer you up," he said, brandishing the flowers, "How are you?"

"Okay," she replied, rubbing her forehead. "Been better, but okay." Daniel nodded as if he understood everything.

"Do they know what caused it?" he asked, acting as innocent as possible.

Sarah shook her head. "Of course not. They said that it was some sort of allergic reaction to the medication they put me on. But it couldn't be that and they know it. It's just some cheap way of saying 'Sarah, we don't know what the hell happened to you. Our PhD's aren't helping at all!'" She laughed bitterly. Daniel tried to laugh along with her.

"Do _you_ know what really happened?"

Sarah thought of telling him the truth. But the truth was what had got her sent to the funny farm in the first place. So she did the next best thing: "I have no idea, actually," she lied. Daniel tried nodding without looking too disappointed. He was supposed to be the one she spoke the truth to, no matter how much he was keeping from her. He inched closer to her until they were nose to nose. Sarah's face scrunched together and she bit her bottom lip. She tried hard not to wince, but found it near impossible. As Daniel drew nearer, it began to feel as if there was a large leather band around her forehead, being pulled tighter and tighter until she felt her skull might burst. But Daniel didn't seem to see Sarah's pain, and pressed his forehead against hers, trying to be affectionate.

"Daniel-" He cut her off.

"Shh," he said, pressing a finger to her lips. His flesh on hers made her mouth feel red hot, burning. She yelped at the contact, and he quickly pulled back. "What? What's wrong?" His eyes flamed in anger. He wondered if Jareth had told her what he had done.

"It…It hurt," Daniel stared at her in apprehension.

"What did?"

"You," she responded. Her bottom lip quivered, and she tried to hold back the saline that was welling p in her eyes, "You did. You're touch. Just you being near me. It hurt."

"How is that possible?" Daniel muttered under his breath. He looked back at Sarah and tried not to notice her flinch under his gaze. "I'll go now. You need to heal. Maybe I'll check on you later." Before Sarah acknowledged him, he left the small room. Once out in the hallway, he turned each corner to make sure no one was following him, and then disappeared.

………………..

"How _dare_ you?!" Darius screeched. "Don't you want her to be happy?! You're not doing anything but getting your own sick kicks at seeing her miserable."

Jareth laughed.  
Have you ever thought that it wasn't me who did this, but you?" Darius stared after him like he was crazy.

"Impossible! I would never make her this…afflicted! I could never cause her pain!"

"Out of curiosity," Jareth leaned forward in his throne, staring at his son. "Did you do anything to differ me from anyone else? Have you made sure it only worked on me? Have you done anything, oh, I don't know, specific?" He scratched behind his ear with a gloved hand and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"What? Of course I-" Darius stopped his rage for a moment and scratched his chin in thought. "Shit!" he cursed. "It was an easy mistake. Anyone could have made it." Jareth laughed.

"But it wasn't just _anyone_, Darius, it was you. Do you know what you have to do now?"

Darius had long since lost the cool and calm demeanor he had just a few days ago. "But I don't want to!"

"You don't wish to see whom you claim to love again?" Jareth chose his words carefully.

Darius grunted angrily. "Fine, I'll reverse it. But only so I can see her again. I'll find a way to prevent you from being with her, Father, what with all the books in here," he smiled cockily once again.

"There's that stubborn son I remember," Jareth drawled under his breath.

He studied his son's expression. Darius's facial appearance made him look either in deep concentration, or absolute pain. He was muttering some sort of incantation in monotone. After about five minutes, he re-opened his eyes and sighed.

"I think I'll go see her now." Darius smiled at Jareth thinking nothing of his father's odd grin.

"Are you positive what you've done has been called off once and for all?"

"Yes."

"Then you won't be going to see her," Jareth's smirk widened.

Darius laughed, but was a little unnerved by his father's calm air. "Of course I am, Father. And there's nothing you can do about it!" Darius beamed back at his father, as arrogant as ever.

Jareth's chortle stopped Darius from moving towards the door. "My only son saying there's nothing I can do to stop him? I certainly think not," he exclaimed. "What of that ball you wanted to attend some decades back? I stopped you from going to that. And you had motivation then! I can stop you from seeing Sarah as well," his laughter turned dark,  
"but it won't require any form of locking spells. One thing you still need to work on, after all these years, is how you plan things. You are still nothing more than a self centered child." His father's cackle was the last thing to echo in Darius's ears before he vanished from the castle and into the deepest oubliette that could be found.

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There. Another chapter. It's short. It's not my best work. But it's a chapter. Five reviews (at least) gets you a better one. So hit the button or you'll be stuck with Darius.


	26. The Beginning Of The End

-1She felt like she had missed something, and for the life of her she could not figure out what it was. If there was one things she detested more than her sanitary prison, it was not being in the know. Her head throbbed, and she pushed a cool hand to her forehead, hoping to will herself back to sleep.

………………..

In the room several halls away, Alicia suffered the same feat. She had been in that room longer than the doctors had intended, but no one was quite sure why. Whenever she leapt toward improvement, something always pushed her back into her depression. She tossed and turned, trying hard to fall back asleep. She forced her eyes shut, clamping a hand over them as if it was the only way to rest. But no matter how hard she pressed, light seemed to seep through the cracks between her fingers. So the girl turned over and stuffed her face into the pillow. She thought she would find solace that way, but she was sorely mistaken.

A hand grabbed the back of Alicia's head and forced it downward into the bulk of the firm pillow. She tried to gasp for breath, but no oxygen entered her mouth, only pillow. Her arms flailed wildly, hands grabbing at her scalp, but there was nothing there. Not a trace of the cadaver, the bodiless hand. All she knew was that someone, something, was suffocating her, and there was nothing she could do about it. The only place her screams were heard were within her own head. Alicia had tried letting out a shriek, but her voice box refused her. She felt her face being smothered by the pillow, but she stopped fighting back. What was the use of fighting back when there was nothing to fight against? Alicia let her mind recede until all she saw beneath her eyelids was black. The mattress sighed with her final, wheezing breath.

Far away, Darius laughed.

………………..

Sarah awoke early. Not because she still couldn't sleep; about an hour after her struggles she drifted off, but because Cecilia prodded her from her dreams.

"Sorry to wake you, but something's happened. We thought you'd want to know. Come with me, please," She said solemnly. So much for good morning.

"What? What happened? Where're we going?" Sarah asked.

"The hospital morgue. Alicia's dead. Smothered herself with a pillow, apparently. Usually we don't allow patients down there, but you were one of her only friends. You meant a lot to her; she'd want you there." Cecilia chose her words carefully.

"Why'd she do it? I know I haven't visited her in a while,. But I didn't think she'd _kill_ herself over it," Sarah sighed, "Did she leave a note?"

"You shouldn't blame yourself. It's not your fault." She patted Sarah on the shoulder, "And no, she didn't. She was doing so well, too. We were going to put her back in your room soon."

The talked and waked until they got to the basement. It was a dingy place, with bright neon tube lights that bounced off the walls and made them look blue. Already Sarah felt uncomfortable.

"Here we are," Cecilia sighed. She reached into the pocket of her white jacket to reveal a large ring of keys. She took the most ancient looking of the keys and jammed it into the lock of the morgue's door. The door swung open and banged against the wall on the other side.

The morgue was depressing. Sarah was amazed no one had ever killed themselves because they had to work down there. The neon lights buzzed loudly, but Sarah's mind was elsewhere. She was concentrating on the metal doors that seemed to be embedded in the wall opposite her. She didn't need to ask what was kept in them.

Expertly, Cecilia went to the drawer that read "I 330" and opened. Sarah's hand flew to her mouth as she tried to stifle a gasp. Alicia lay on the metal slap with a white sheet pulled up to her shoulders. Her face was blue and her flesh looked waxy. "Dear God…" Sarah muttered.

"I know. It's a shame. She was nice. But everyone dies at some point," Cecilia sighed, "Alicia's was just sooner than most peoples'." Sarah could feel her eyes misting over, but she didn't want to cry. Alicia wouldn't want her to cry.

"I can't stay here. I just… I can't."

"It's okay, Sarah, you can go if you want to." Sarah nodded a silent thank you and ran out of the room, sprinted up the steps, and ran to her empty room. It had never seemed emptier.

As soon as her head hit the pillow, the tears that refused to come before lulled her to sleep.

"_Sarah," A voice in the darkness whispered._

"_Who's there?"_

"_You know whose there!" The voice kidded. Darius stepped out of the darkness, the one beam of light that rested on Sarah barely caressed the side of his cheek._

"_What're you doing here? I could see you in real life, you know."_

"_Not anymore, kid. Jareth locked me up." Sarah's expression turned glum._

"_What?"_

"_He's jealous. Not just of me, of everyone near you. Can't you see, Sarah? He wants you all to himself. He doesn't care who he hurts in the process."_

"_What are you talking about? He wouldn't-"_

"_Alicia didn't kill herself, Sarah. Jareth did it. He was afraid of you replacing him with someone else. That's why I'm… where I am." Sarah stared dumbfounded into his eyes. "You have to do something. You have to stop the madness, before someone else gets hurt. You know what that means, don't you?"_

"_What are you saying?" Tears welled up in Sarah's eyes. _

"_You know what I'm saying. You have to get rid of him."_

"_I can't do that! I loved him! No, I love him! I couldn't! I wouldn't! Why can't you do something? Talk to him!"_

"_From where I am? I don't think that's possible. You are everyone's last hope. It is completely up to you," Darius sighed. "Take this. It'll help." He handed Sarah something cold and heavy. "You have to stop the madness, before Jareth hurts other people." Sarah's silent tears turned into sobs._

"_That's not fair!"_

"_Life isn't always fair, Sarah. But what's worse? Losing all your friends and loved ones? Or losing one person who might not have ever loved you in the first place?" Since he was shrouded in darkness, Sarah could not see him smiling._

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I know! I know! I know! I promised everyone I'd stop writing short chapters! But I thought I'd leave you all wanting more. I'm gonna need at LEAST 10 reviews to get the next chapter. For this is the beginning of the end.

Shame on Darius! He's a little brainwasher, ain't he? Hit that review button now. You know you want to see how this ends.


	27. Public Service Anouncement

Come on people! This is your wake up call! I have a chapter ready and it's itching to be known but I've only gotten five reviews! I don't mean to sound like a nagging Nancy, but I want to put the next chapter out there already…

So hitthat pretty review button and review that last chapter, kaaay?


	28. Unfortunate

Lady of the Labyrinth: Here ya go

Draco's Daughter: I dunno, hon. My "begging" seems to have worked just fine…

EmpressAuthor: I know, I've heard it already. Bad move on my part. But it worked, didn't it?

Midevilfreako: No need for that, although it might be entertaining…

ArcaneRose: Thank you so much! That just about made my day.

So, now that we all know my thoughts on other peoples thoughts, maybe I'll give you two! Yes two! Chapters for the price of one.

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Sarah's dream had shaken her. She awoke feeling clammy, with still moist tears streaked down her face. She brushed them away with the heel of her hand and rolled over. She had almost fully convinced herself that it had been a dream until she saw the gun on her bedside table, next to an old glass of water. Sarah busied herself by dumping the water in the sink, trying not to let her eyes rest on the death machine.

"What would a bullet do to him, anyway? It couldn't _kill_ him," she laughed as she spoke to herself, only half believing what she said. "Nope. Daniel was joking. He'd never do anything like that." She shook her head, but sighed.

The girl still hadn't convinced herself. She felt like her heart and her brain were arguing over something she thought she should have known.

"_He's obsessive, Sarah. The only way to get him to stop is to get rid of him."_

"_But he'd never do any of that! It must have been someone else. Besides, Alicia killed herself, even the doctors said it…"_

"_But there was no note, not a hint of it about to happen. And what about that dream you had had about Karen? Maybe it was a premonition. A _sign_."_

"No!" her voice aloud startled Sarah. She had been in her head too long.

She couldn't keep her thoughts to herself. She had the sudden urge to tell the only person that she _could _tell. Sarah picked up the reciever and hit one.

"Nurses station," a rough female voice spoke after the first ring.

"Um, hi. Is Dr. Cowen in today? I need to speak with her." Sarah tried to be calm.

"Room number?" the receptionist asked broadly. Sarah gave it to her without emotion.

"Thank you. She'll be down soon," and then the conversation was over.

Hanging up the phone, Sarah sighed and tried to busy herself. She got dressed, pulling an oversized sweater over her head, followed by a pair of jeans. She then went to the dresser, held Daniel's "gift" in her hand for a long moment, before burying it in a mountain of clothes in a dresser drawer. An hour later, she was making her bed, and there was still no sign of Cecilia.

She waited another five minutes, but felt like she was bursting at the seems. The only person who she could share her dilemmas with was Cecilia, and she as no where to be seen.

Ring. Ring ring ring. Sarah held the reciever in her hand, leaning against the door frame for support.

"I'm sorry, Miss Williams. There's nothing that can be done about it."

"Have you looked everywhere?" Sarah demanded.

"We can't find Dr. Cowen anywhere. She's been here all day, but she's just… disappeared." Sarah dropped the phone. It clattered to the floor, dangling like a limp rag doll. Cecilia didn't disappear.

Sarah concentrated on breathing in and out. She felt tears blinding her, but she didn't care. Slowly, Sarah went to the drawer and shoved the gun in her sweater's pocket, half hoping it would go off in her stomach. She felt sick.

She got up to wash her face, and then stared into the mirror. She knew what she had to do.

………………..

"Hoggle, I need you," Sarah spoke plainly and clearly, like she would if she hadn't been crying.

"Sarah!" Hoggle cried joyfully before seeing her face. "Sarah, what's wrong?" he asked, clearly concerned.

"Nothing," she sniffed. "I just need to go back." Sniff, " to the Labyrinth."

"Sarah…" Hoggle started.

"No, Hoggle. I'm fine. Could you take me back, please?" she tried to keep her voice calm, but it sounded to innocent, to apathetic. It sounded dead.

"Er… okay then, if you're insisting…" He shifted from one foot to the other. "Why so suddenly?"

"No reason," Sarah breathed, "Something just came up and I have to go before it's too late," she rambled.

"Too late for what? Sarah, what's going on? You're not telling me something!" Hoggle's eyebrows scrunched together.

"I know, I know," Sarah felt horrible. "All in time, I guess."

Hoggle heaved a sigh. "If you say so, I guess," he said, "Take my hand." Sarah placed her slim, white hand in his fat, grubby one, and off they went.


	29. The End

Karen lay awake, staring vacantly at the ceiling above her. Something big was going to happen; she could feel it in her bones, and it was making her restless. And yet she felt powerless, unable to deny whatever fate awaited her. She sighed and buried her head beneath her pillow, listening to Richard's heavy breathing. Closing her eyes, Karen ran through every way she could think of to help her fall asleep; she counted sheep in their pastures, jumping over the fence to escape the big bad wolf. She recalled the events of her day, which involved grocery shopping while keeping an antsy kindergardener in the shopping cart, and going to bring the car in to the shop; it needed an oil change. But her efforts were to no avail. She rolled over and wrapped a cold arm around her husband's chest. He smiled in his sleep, but muttered, "Karen, go to bed," in one outward breath. She tried to smile and kissed his head, as if in goodbye, and fell asleep wrapped in his arms.

……………….

They entered the Labyrinth as they had almost four years ago, and almost for the same purpose: her family's safety.

"D'you remember how to get to the castle?" Hoggle asked quietly.

"Mhm," Sarah lied. She knew as well as he did that the Labyrinth had changed since she had been there last.

"Good, because I have to go. Gots flowers to plant, fairies to kill…" Sarah giggled through her blotchy face.

"Okay, I'll be fine," she promised and sent him off.

………………..

Jareth worked furiously to get it done. He knew that it had taken far too long as it was. His "project" of sorts had already proven to be tedious, but his revenge would be worth it. He wanted Karen to forget _everything_. Sarah would be proud.

He was enveloped in his thoughts until a knock on the cellar's door ripped him from them.

Hoggle coughed. "'Scuse me, sir, I know you're busy. But um," he stuttered, "the Lady Sarah is wandering around the Labyrinth lookin' for you. She called me an' her face was all red, like she'd been crying, an' I think she knows what you've been up to!" he rambled accusatively.

"Nonsense," Jareth spoke curtly. "How would she?"

"I dunno. But she ain't droppin in to say 'Hi's all I know."

The Goblin King sighed. "She'll find me when she finds me. Now go plant some weeds, Hedgewort."

"It's _Hoggle_," Hoggle grumbled as he left the frigid room.

Once the wooden door shut, Jareth let out an exasperated breath. He almost never regarded the word of peasant dwarfes against his own thoughts, but this was different, this time, word was coming from her friend. He hated to do this, but he needed Sarah to forget more than he needed this fate for Karen. _She could learn from Sarah, _Jareth reasoned with himself. It sounded logical enough in his head, so without breaking stride, he went to the large bookshelf with its vast collection of books. But it was not these he wished to look at. He pulled an especially old looking book out of the shelf and took a box from out behind it. It was a shabby looking wooden box, plain but for the slit in the middle of it. A seam ran through the middle of the box, as if the top half was a lid. At this half he pulled, and it gave, pulling off easily. Inside the box was a glimmering piece of silver, a shining stone placed in its center. It was a ring, not just any ring, but the ring that Sarah had given the Wise Man almost four years ago. Jareth smiled as he held it, switching it from one hand to another. He had needed something of Karen's to complete his 'work of art,' and he was ready to admit that he had nothing. However, now that there was a change of plans, things suddenly appeared clearer. He watched as light bounced off the shining stone in the ring, and then tucked it up his sleeve, where access would be easiest.

………………..

As soon as Hoggle disappeared from sight, Sarah slunk down the wall of the Labyrinth. Her fairy tale was over; it would be shattered by cold lead. Glitter no longer hung thick in the air. The weight of the gun in her pocket seemed to pull her down. Her heart had long since splashed into her stomach. The gun felt cool in her hand, icy to the touch, _just like Jareth will_, she thought to her self. Sarah now began banging her head against the wall in bitter frustration.

"Hey! Watch what you're doing!" a small accented voice spoke in her ear. Sarah swung around to see a little blue worm with an orange scarf staring back at her with ping-pong ball eyes. "Hey! I know you! You were 'ere a while back. Somefin about a baby brother, wasn't it? I thought you collected him already. Why're you here, then? What're you getting this time?"

Sarah stopped then, and she stared at the worm. "How did you know that?" she questioned angrily.

"Word gets 'round real quick here," he said and scowled.

"Oh," Sarah forced a smile, "Hello to you too, then. It's good to see a friendly face." She cleared her throat; "I got my brother a while back. I'm here fore… something else," she ducked her head, face hidden by her long hair. "So how have you been?" she changed the subject. "How's the missus?"

"Things're fine, just fine. Do you have time for a spotta tea?" he inquired.

"Maybe later. Right now I have to get to the castle," she sighed. "But I haven't been here in a while and I don't know where I'm going!" she said, nearing hysterics.

"Well, why didn't you just say so? I can get you there real quick!" he said bouncily.

"You said that last time too, and you led me in the wrong direction!" she closed her eyes in exasperation.

"Well, I _do_ know a faster way to get there, but if you don't want me to tell you, I'll just go drink tea with the missus." He started to crawl back into his hole in the wall.

"Wait!" she called after him, a little louder than necessary, "Mr. Worm," he crawled back towards her and scowled, "You're the only hope I have to get there in time. Please." She begged.

"Well, all right. What you want to do is walk straight that way," he nodded his little head in the direction they were facing, "then when the wall ends, go that way," he nodded to the left. "Then, when you see a sign with lots of hands, pull on the lowest hand, and there you are!" he said happily.

"How do I know all those things will be there?" she whined.

"You don't." The worm said plainly. "But what other choice do you have?" Sarah let out a stream of breath.

"Good point. Thank you so much!" She said and got up quickly, walking into the direction the worm had pointed out.

True to his word, the wall did end, leaving three directions open: left, right, and straight. Remembering what Mr. Worm said, she went left. The walls and floors were no longer carpeted in glitter, but they still looked uniform. Sarah had begun running without realizing it, but it hit her when she came upon the sign filled with hands, the exact one that the worm had spoken of. She found herself gasping for breath, resting her hands on her knees and breathing for dear life.

Finally catching her breath, Sarah did as she was told to do. She found the lowest hand, a gnarled looking one with a decrepit finger pointing at an obscure angle, and tugged hard. At first nothing happened. Sarah groaned, but was caught off guard when the ground dropped from beneath her feet. Her scream was piercing, but she kept her eyes open. There was no light in the seemingly never ending pit, but she could tell it was yet another Shaft of Hands, only this time they weren't nearly as helpful. She heard them making snide remarks, their hand made mouths turned up into haunting grins.

Long before she was done staring at them all, she hit the stone cold floor. "Ooph!" she exclaimed. She got up, rubbing her now sore backside, to face narrow staircase. She closed her eyes, hoping it was only a dream, but to no avail. When she opened them, the staircase was still there, staring at her.

There were no railings on the staircase, so she pressed her hands against the jagged stonewalls for support. Her shoes made staccato clicking noises against the cut stone, and she tried to walk quietly. Once she reached the bottom of the steps, she noticed a rough wooden door directly in front of them. Holding her breath, she opened the door with great caution. Sarah gasped at what she saw inside. It didn't look _cozy,_ but there was something about the cellar. The walls were lined with leather bound books, dusty with time. Her steps were thrown about the room, echoing against the wooden bookshelves. She covered her mouth with her hands, afraid to make too much noise. Sarah let her eyes roam the room. There was an ancient looking wooden table with a large stone basin on its surface. A book lay open next to it. Sarah circled the table like a hawk circles its prey; curiosity had gotten the best of her. She was about to read what was on the time crinkled, yellow page when the door slammed.

"Hello, Sarah." She gulped. Curiosity killed the cat.

She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came forth was a cold burst of air. The frigid metal pressed against her stomach harder than it ever had before. Jareth chuckled. Sarah looked like she wanted nothing more than for the floor to drop from beneath her, for it to swallow her whole.

"I should have suspected you would find this place eventually. I was counting on a little more time, but of course, you wouldn't allow for that, now would you?" she stared at him inquisitively, trying to hide the fury that was building up behind her eyes.

"You can't do this," her voice quavered. "It's not fair!" Jareth chuckled darkly.

"What happened to you wasn't fair, either," he muttered, "and she's to blame."

"She?" Sarah scoffed, voice frantic beneath her anger. "Jareth, there are lives at stake! I can't let you do this anymore."

"Do what? Are we talking about the same thing?" he took a step towards her and she took a step back, back against the dusty bookshelf. Her restrained tears could no longer be pent up. They flowed freely, clinging to her lashes and spilling down her cheeks. "You had no _reason_ to be institutionalized."

Jareth was on the other side of the table by now, staring at Sarah like a lion would intently stare at a lamb. An angered fist pounded the table, which shook like it would break under the force. "I've put you through too much," he spoke finally, whispering. He allowed the ring to roll into the palm of his hand, which he now held out limply into the center of the stone basin. "And for that, I offer peace of mind, and my apologies." The words were stiff somehow, mechanical, like he'd practiced them over in his head. Sarah could see the restrain put on his face; she could see his eyes through his façade; his eyes alone reflected that he wanted nothing more than to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. She tried to memorize this part of him, but she was thinking too much. Sarah took a deep breath at his words; it was now or never.

"So do I," her voice shuddered as she spoke, trembled like a leaf in the wind. She pulled out the compact gun Daniel had given her. "I'm so sorry." Jareth's eyes grew wide. He stared at her questioningly. His hand hung, suspended above the basin, palm down. "I'm _so_ sorry," she repeated. Her hand shook with the velocity of the shot. She held her eyes open long enough to see the ring fall into the basin, it's splash barely audible. She saw Jareth fall in a heap to the stone floor with a lifeless thud. She stayed conscious just long enough to hear him stutter her name. Then she saw nothing more.

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There! I hope that makes up for the last short chapter. Most unfortunately, I only have one chapter left... but it'll be good, I promise!


	30. Finale

Oh dear. I apologize vehemently for cliff hanging like that, however, I now give you the final chapter, as well as the first chapter to the sequel of Tragic Love. It will be called Through it All, so be on the lookout!

And do not worry, it may be now, it may be in the sequel, but I 100 percent guarantee a happy ending with Jareth and Sarah, the way it should be.

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"Jesus Christ, she's waking up."

"It's a miracle!"

"Give her some air." And authoritative voice barked. There was a collective step backwards as the voice drew nearer. "She shouldn't be too crowded."

Sarah's brain worked furiously to put the pieces of the puzzle that was the darkness back together. She couldn't remember what time she fell asleep or for how long, but the pieces were quickly becoming one. She groaned and opened her eyes to a bright light.

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked, trying to press a hand to her forehead, but quickly stopped herself, feeling the restraining pull of the wires and tubes that were imbedded into the crook of her elbow. "Ouch."

Cecilia tried to smile sympathetically. "Quite some time, Sarah. You've been unconscious for almost six months," she chuckled, but it sounded choked, swallowed.

"Oh." Sarah blinked. "Who are all these people? Who are you?" Sarah stared back at Cecilia, eyes quietly speculating every aspect of her face for some sense of familiarity. Alas, she found none. Cecilia's eyes grew wide, but she turned to look at several nurses in the room and muttered something that sounded like the word "Amnesia." Sarah looked around almost frantically until she saw the only three faces she recognized: those of her father, Toby, and Karen. "Dad?" she whispered, "Toby?"

"We're here, sweetie," Richard spoke quietly, as if afraid to wake the dead. "Dr. Cowen called us when you woke up. It's a miracle." He smiled appreciatively in Cecilia's direction. He turned to Sarah, smile growing wider. Karen clung to Richard's shoulder, and Sarah noticed there were tears in her eyes.

She smiled then, too, and for some strange reason felt that after all these years, she had finally gained Karen's respect.

………………..

Darius had been practicing for this since he had set his father up those six months ago, for he hadn't been strong enough then. He knew he could take control of anyone, or anything, with but a snap. He was his father's son, after all. If he wasn't able to hone his skills, he knew he couldn't undermine his own kin. Darius smirked grimly at the thought.

Slowly, to prolong his first moment of true triumph, he turned his gaze to the slimy wall of his oubliette. He stared at it with such ferocity that, had it been human, it would have fell under his gaze alone. However, it didn't need to be human for that. After a few quiet moments, the shuddering began. In the blink of an eye, the wall on Darius' right hand side crumbled and fell. He chuckled at the light that peeped through the cracks between the newly created boulders. "Too simple," he said to himself. The man closed her his for a moment, picturing the new hole cleared of all rubble. He heard the harsh noise of rocks scraping against dirt and grit as they pushed themselves to the surrounding walls, but dared not open his eyes.

The Goblin Prince fell to his knees as the light stung his eyes. It was too bright after being in the dark for half the year. The little cobblestones of the dirt path ahead of him dug into his knees and the hand he shot out in front of him to keep himself from falling. But despite all this, Darius laughed. The warmth of the sun felt good on his face and the back of his neck. He got up slowly and brushed the dirt from his knees. Only then id he close his eyes a second time. A hospital appeared in his mind's eyes, and he disappeared.

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And then the story was over. My my, the time just flew right by! So now for thank yous!

I thank, first and foremost, my dear friend Saffy, for helping me through many a writers block, whether she knows she was or not.

I also wish to thank Lady of the Labyrinth, for always encouraging me to continue onward.

And last but certainly not least, the Late Great Jim Henson, who created Labyrinth before these fan fictions were twinkles in any of our eyes.

And then I was done with Tragic Love, and begun the sequel!!!


	31. First Chapter of Sequel

Alright. Here goes. This is the first chapter to the sequel of Tragic Love, to be called Through It All. I hope you all enjoy and review!

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"Is she okay?" Daniel hissed, his quiet voice sounding more menacing than it should have.

"It depends on what you mean by 'Okay'." Dr. Cowen sighed. "She doesn't seem to remember anything up to about four years ago."

Daniel's intake of breath was sharp.. he raised a hand to his forehead, running his fingers exasperatingly through his dark hair. "What's the last thing she remembers?" he tried to swallow his pride as he spoke. Since his superiority to Jareth was clear in his mind, it didn't matter what Sarah remembered. History could be re-written.

"She keeps saying her brother's been stolen, but she doesn't remember anything after that…"

"Nothing?" he had to be sure.

"Nothing." Cecilia confirmed. Despite himself, Daniel smiled.

"Can I see her, then?"

"Not yet. Sarah isn't ready to speak wih anyone she doesn't recall."

"Oh," he stared dejectedly at his feet. "maybe another time then," Cecilia nodded aas he walked away.

As soon as he ounded the corner, Daniel laughed.

………………..

"Can I come in?" Cecilia knocked at the door frame of Sarah's room.

"Sure. It's Dr. Cowen, right?" she answered the voice.

Cecilia nodded and walked in to sit on the bed beside her. "But you can call me Cecilia," Cecilia smiled at Sarah. Her hand rested on the bed, a ring glimmered on her ring finger.

"That's a beautiful ring," Sarah stated after a while.

"Thank you. I'm getting married." Cecilia tried and failed at containing the excitement in her voice.

"Can I see it?" Sarah nodded towards the ring. Cecilia agreed to it and slipped the ring off her finger, placing it safely in Sarah's slender hand.

The ring looked familiar to Sarah. She stared at it like it was covered in a fail; she knew she should have known it's shape but couldn't place why. Sarah allowed her fingers to trace the triangle's curved edges to their pointed tips. Something sparkled within the oddly shaped triangle, but there were no gems to be seen. "It's spectacular," Sarah managed, unexpected tears stinging her eyes. "Whoever he is, I wish the both of you the best of luck." She tried to swallow her tears as she handed the ring back to Cecilia.

"thank you." Cecilia smiled sadly and got up, placing the ring back on her finger as she walked. Once the door closed, Sarah's face met with her pillow, and she cried.

Within a few short minutes, Sarah cried herself to sleep.

_It all seemed _so_ familiar. Sarah stood in a large room with stairs cut into either wall. She took a few steps, listening to her shoes clack against the stone floor, keeping her eyes on her feet, she moved towards he steps on her right. Sarah treaded carefully, afraid to break the spell._

_Finally reaching the top step, she gasped. The room looked fresh, like she'd seen it every day since birth. There was a large pit in the middle of the room with a dingy red carped covering it's floor. In the bck of the room, a throne sat, and on the throne sat a man. His face was clouded, but Sarah knew who it was as soon as she saw him._

"_Why can't I remember you?" she asked, cautious as she stepped nearer. He shrugged. "I won't remember you when I wake up, will I?" It was a question, but she already knew the answer. The man shook his head sadly. "But can I enjoy my dream while it lasts?" the man nodded and held his arms oen. She still walked slowly, but happily crawled into the man's strong arms, curling up in his lap like a lost dog. She gazed up at his face, trying to clear the fog that covered it. "Why can't I see you?" she asked. Sarah thought she heard him laugh, but he shook his head and pressed a leather gloved finger to her lips. And she understood._

_Sometimes it's best to enjoy the silence._


End file.
